Controlled synthesis and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities of cobalt carbides with different phase compositions

Longfei Wang; Qingguo Yu; Yimin Liu; Toyohisa Fujita; Yuezhou Wei; Xinpeng Wang; Deqian Zeng

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ad0412

Controlled synthesis and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities of cobalt carbides with different phase compositions

Nanotechnology. 2023 Nov 3;35(3). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ad0412.

Authors

Longfei Wang¹, Qingguo Yu¹, Yimin Liu¹, Toyohisa Fujita¹, Yuezhou Wei², Xinpeng Wang¹, Deqian Zeng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, People's Republic of China.
² School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 37848017
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ad0412

Abstract

Cobalt carbides are emerging as promising materials for various magnetic and catalytic applications. However, exploring dedicated cobalt carbides with optimal catalytic properties via adjusting phase compositions remains a significant challenge. Herein, three different cobalt carbides, Co_xC (Co₂C-Co₃C), Co₂C-Co, and Co₃C, were successfully prepared using a facile one-pot green method. The phase compositions of cobalt carbides could be easily controlled by varying the cobalt-based precursors and carbon sources. More remarkably, three different cobalt carbides could serve as reduction cocatalysts decorated CdS for improved hydrogen production under visible light. Intriguingly, the obtained Co₃C/CdS nanocomposite displayed the highest photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity among the three composites and superior photocatalytic stability. This work provides a fundamental approach to tuning the photocatalytic properties of cobalt carbides for energy conversion fields.

Keywords: cobalt carbides; cocatalysts; controlled synthesis; nanocomposites; photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.