Near-Infrared-Induced Photothermal Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Production for 3D/2D Heterojunctions of Snowflake-like CuS/g-C3N4 Nanosheets

Inorg Chem. 2023 Jan 9;62(1):624-635. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c04000. Epub 2022 Dec 26.

Abstract

The conversion of solar power to hydrogen (H2) energy efficiently encounters some obstacles due to the lack of superior catalysts and efficient catalytic approaches. Herein, three-dimensional/two-dimensional (3D/2D) CuS/g-C3N4 photothermal catalysts were obtained via an easy, one-step hydrothermal method after pyrolysis. The favorable heterojunction interface for H2 production was constructed by snowflake-like CuS embedded in the graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets, leading to the acceleration of charge transfer and separation, decrease of charge transfer distance, and perfect realization of photothermal effects (PTEs) induced by near-infrared (NIR) light. The 3D/2D CuS/g-C3N4 catalyst presents a topmost H2-production rate (1422 μmol h-1 g-1) under dual wavelength (420 + 850 nm) and a moderate H2-production rate under 420 nm, which are 12-fold and 9-fold higher than pure g-C3N4, respectively, owing to a strong action from PTEs induced by NIR. The feasible NIR-enhanced photothermal catalysis is expected to apply in multifarious heat-assisted photocatalysis processes by designing multifunctional composites with super PTE and photocatalytic capacity.