Remarkably enhanced hydrogen evolution of g-C3N4 nanosheet under simulated sunlight via AgPt alloy co-catalyst with low amount of Pt

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2024-01, Vol.434, p.139950, Article 139950
• Main Authors: Zhou, Ganghua, Zhang, Longyun, Xia, Yu, Yin, Weiqin, Zhu, Xingwang, Hou, Jianhua, Wang, Shengsen, Ning, Xin, Wang, Xiaozhi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AgPt alloy; Hydrogen evolution; Mechanism; Photocatalysis
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139950

The development of low-cost co-catalysts matched with proper photocatalysts to enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance is highly demanded. Herein, the AgPt bimetallic alloy nanoparticles with small amounts of Pt were decorated on g-C3N4 nanosheets (AP-CN) via the NaBH4 reduction method, which were further used as catalysts towards photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water under AM1.5 irradiation. Compared to mono-metallic co-catalysts, bimetallic AgPt alloy nanoparticles exhibited excellent co-catalytic performance. The optimum AP-CN photocatalyst with 0.5 wt% Pt exhibited photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 3507.89 μmol g−1·h−1, which even surpassed that of the commonly-used photocatalyst 1.0 wt% Pt in-situ photo-deposited on g-C3N4. Meanwhile, the AP-CN showed excellent photocatalytic activity and durability after four experimental cycles. The enhanced activity and stability could be attributed to the synergistic effect between plasmonic metal Ag and Pt, which promoted the transfer and separation of photoinduced charge carriers. Besides, the theoretical results based on DFT calculation also verified that AgPt alloys have better performance of desorbing hydrogen and adsorbing H atoms. This work provides a feasible idea for the development of inexpensive and efficient bimetallic co-catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production through water splitting. We present the photocatalytic hydrogen performance over AgPt alloy cocatalyst with low amount of Pt and make a critical discussion about the inner structure-performance correlation. [Display omitted] •AP-CN with low Pt content (0.5 wt%) achieved high HER activity and stability.•AgPt alloy can expand light absorption and promote charge transport.•The H adsorption on the AP-CN surface is optimized based on DFT calculation.•The H2 evolution activity of AP-CN exceeds that of photodeposition of 1 wt% Pt.