Bandgap engineering control bifunctional MnxCd1-xS photocatalysts selectively reforming xylose to C3 organic acids and efficient hydrogen production

Yuqi Liu; Fuyan Kang; Chunyu Bi; Junming Shi; Guoyang Gao; Yulong An; Zhanhua Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.023

Bandgap engineering control bifunctional Mn_xCd_1-xS photocatalysts selectively reforming xylose to C3 organic acids and efficient hydrogen production

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Dec 15;652(Pt B):2066-2075. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.023. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Yuqi Liu¹, Fuyan Kang¹, Chunyu Bi¹, Junming Shi¹, Guoyang Gao¹, Yulong An¹, Zhanhua Huang²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Material Science and Engineering College, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
² Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Material Science and Engineering College, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: huangzh1975@163.com.

PMID: 37696060
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.023

Abstract

The simultaneous reforming of biomass into high value-added chemicals and H₂ production by water splitting in a green and environmentally clean way is a very challenging task. Herein, we demonstrate the design of bifunctional Mn_xCd_1-xS photocatalyst with a controllable band gap by bandgap engineering. Bandgap engineering effectively regulates the oxidation and reduction capacity of materials. The design of photocatalysts with suitable conduction bands and valence bands makes the targeted conversion of xylose possible. Innovative conversion of xylose to glyceric acid, lactic acid, and propanoic acid. The optimized Mn_0.7Cd_0.3S catalyst showed excellent performance in the production of H₂ (14.06 mmol·g_cat^-1·h^-1, 29.9 times more than CdS and 351.5 times more than MnS), xylose conversion (90%), and C3 organic acid yield (59.2%) without cocatalyst and any scavengers under visible light irradiation. This work shows that a rational photocatalyst design can achieve efficient simultaneous production of high value-added chemicals and clean energy.

Keywords: C3 organic acids; H(2) production; Mn(x)Cd(1-x)S; Photoreformation; Xylose.