Facilitated Unidirectional Electron Transmission by Ru Nano Particulars Distribution on MXene Mo2C@g-C3N4 Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

Qiuyu Chen; Zonghan Huang; Meng Liu; Xiaoping Li; Yuxuan Du; Xiaobao Chen; Dahu Ding; Shengjiong Yang; Yang Chen; Rongzhi Chen

doi:10.3390/molecules29071684

Facilitated Unidirectional Electron Transmission by Ru Nano Particulars Distribution on MXene Mo₂C@g-C₃N₄ Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic H₂ Evolution

Molecules. 2024 Apr 8;29(7):1684. doi: 10.3390/molecules29071684.

Authors

Qiuyu Chen^{1

2}, Zonghan Huang^{1

2}, Meng Liu^{1

2}, Xiaoping Li^{1

2}, Yuxuan Du^{1

2}, Xiaobao Chen^{1

2}, Dahu Ding³, Shengjiong Yang⁴, Yang Chen^{1

2}, Rongzhi Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² Yanshan Earth Critical Zone and Surface Fluxes Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, No. 13, Yanta Road, Xi'an 710055, China.

Abstract

Precious metals exhibit promising potential for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but their limited abundance restricts widespread utilization. Loading precious metal nanoparticles (NPs) on 2D/2D heterojunctions has garnered considerable interest since it saves precious metal consumption and facilitates unidirectional electron transmission from semiconductors to active sites. In this study, Ru NPs loaded on MXenes Mo₂C by an in-site simple strategy and then formed 2D/2D heterojunctions with 2D g-C₃N₄ (CN) via electrostatic self-assembly were used to enhance photocatalytic H₂ evolution. Evident from energy band structure analyses such as UV-vis and TRPL, trace amounts of Ru NPs as active sites significantly improve the efficiency of the hydrogen evolution reaction. More interestingly, MXene Mo₂C, as substrates for supporting Ru NPs, enriches photoexcited electrons from CN, thereby enhancing the unidirectional electron transmission. As a result, the combination of Ru-Mo₂C and CN constructs a composite heterojunction (Ru-Mo₂C@CN) that shows an improved H₂ production rate at 1776.4 μmol∙g^-1∙h^-1 (AQE 3.58% at 400 nm), which is facilitated by the unidirectional photogenerated electron transmission from the valence band on CN to the active sites on Ru (CN→Mo₂C→Ru). The study offers fresh perspectives on accelerated unidirectional photogenerated electron transmission and saved precious metal usage in photocatalytic systems.

Keywords: MXene Mo2C; graphite carbon nitride; hydrogen evolution; metal nanoparticles; unidirectional electronic transmission.

Abstract

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