Synergistic Effect of Redox Dual PdO x /MnO x Cocatalysts on the Enhanced H2 Production Potential of a SnS/α-Fe2O3 Heterojunction via Ethanol Photoreforming

Hossein Etemadi; Tayyebeh Soltani; Hisao Yoshida; Yiming Zhang; Shane G Telfer; Jenna K Buchanan; Paul G Plieger

doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c05410

Synergistic Effect of Redox Dual PdO _x /MnO _x Cocatalysts on the Enhanced H₂ Production Potential of a SnS/α-Fe₂O₃ Heterojunction via Ethanol Photoreforming

ACS Omega. 2022 Nov 10;7(46):42347-42358. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c05410. eCollection 2022 Nov 22.

Authors

Hossein Etemadi¹, Tayyebeh Soltani², Hisao Yoshida^{2

3}, Yiming Zhang⁴, Shane G Telfer⁴, Jenna K Buchanan¹, Paul G Plieger¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North4410, New Zealand.
² Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto606-8501, Japan.
³ Elements Strategy Initiative for Catalysts and Batteries (ESICB), Kyoto University, Kyoto615-8520, Japan.
⁴ MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North4410, New Zealand.

Abstract

In the quest for optimal H₂ evolution (HE) through ethanol photoreforming, a dual cocatalyst-modified heterocatalyst strategy is utilized. Tin(II) sulfide (SnS) was hybridized with α-Fe₂O₃ to form the heterocatalyst FeOSnS with a p-n heterojunction structure as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-vis diffusive reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) techniques. PdO _x and PdO _x /MnO _x cocatalysts were loaded onto the FeOSnS heterocatalyst through the impregnation method, as verified by high-resolution transform electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and elemental mapping. Photocatalytic ethanol photoreforming resulted in the production of H₂ as the main product with a selectivity of 99% and some trace amounts of CH₄. The FeOSnS2-PdO _x 2%/MnO _x 1% photocatalyst achieved the highest HE rate of 1654 μmol/g, attributed to the synergistic redox contribution of the PdO _x and MnO _x species.