Single-atom Cu anchored catalysts for photocatalytic renewable H2 production with a quantum efficiency of 56

Yumin Zhang; Jianhong Zhao; Hui Wang; Bin Xiao; Wen Zhang; Xinbo Zhao; Tianping Lv; Madasamy Thangamuthu; Jin Zhang; Yan Guo; Jiani Ma; Lina Lin; Junwang Tang; Rong Huang; Qingju Liu

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27698-3

Single-atom Cu anchored catalysts for photocatalytic renewable H₂ production with a quantum efficiency of 56

Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 10;13(1):58. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27698-3.

Authors

Yumin Zhang^#¹, Jianhong Zhao^#¹, Hui Wang^#², Bin Xiao^#¹, Wen Zhang³, Xinbo Zhao¹, Tianping Lv¹, Madasamy Thangamuthu², Jin Zhang¹, Yan Guo³, Jiani Ma³, Lina Lin⁴, Junwang Tang⁵, Rong Huang⁶, Qingju Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials & Technology, National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
³ Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule of the Ministry of Education, the energy and Catalysis Hub, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710127, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE) and Department of Electronics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 7JE, UK. junwang.tang@ucl.ac.uk.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE) and Department of Electronics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China. rhuang@ee.ecnu.edu.cn.
⁷ Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials & Technology, National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China. qjliu@ynu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Single-atom catalysts anchoring offers a desirable pathway for efficiency maximization and cost-saving for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. However, the single-atoms loading amount is always within 0.5% in most of the reported due to the agglomeration at higher loading concentrations. In this work, the highly dispersed and large loading amount (>1 wt%) of copper single-atoms were achieved on TiO₂, exhibiting the H₂ evolution rate of 101.7 mmol g^-1 h^-1 under simulated solar light irradiation, which is higher than other photocatalysts reported, in addition to the excellent stability as proved after storing 380 days. More importantly, it exhibits an apparent quantum efficiency of 56% at 365 nm, a significant breakthrough in this field. The highly dispersed and large amount of Cu single-atoms incorporation on TiO₂ enables the efficient electron transfer via Cu²⁺-Cu⁺ process. The present approach paves the way to design advanced materials for remarkable photocatalytic activity and durability.

Abstract

Grants and funding