Temperature-Induced Variations in Photocatalyst Properties and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: Differences in UV, Visible, and Infrared Radiation

Abstract

In this work, solar-heating-induced temperature-based photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (PC-HER) of different photocatalysts (TiO 2 P25, g-C 3 N 4 , and their loaded Pt) was comprehensively studied and analyzed with the assistance of a series of temperature-based in situ characterizations. It was found that pristine TiO 2 P25 and g-C 3 N 4 displayed enhanced PC-HER performances with increasing temperature (25−65 °C), while their loaded Pt nanoparticles (NPs) demonstrated a different behavior under ultraviolet (UV) or visible irradiation, presenting the highest hydrogen evolution rate at 35 °C. More interestingly, Pt NPs-g-C 3 N 4 showed increasing PC-HER performances from 25 to 65 °C under visible light irradiation. Characterizations suggested that lowered electrical impedance, reduced band gap, increased light absorption, and elongated photoelectron lifetime with increased temperature are beneficial for improved PC-HER. However, agglomeration of Pt NPs significantly deteriorated the PC-HER performance at higher temperature and UV light can aggravate the thermal agglomeration of Pt NPs.

Cd0.9Co0.1S Nanorods with an Internal Electric Field and Photothermal Effect Synergistically for Boosting Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

“…Temperature is one of the influential critical factors in photocatalytic reaction, and an appropriate temperature increase is conducive to photo-catalytic response [ 43 , 44 ]. To verify the photothermal synergistic effect of the photocatalytic, the surface temperature changes of pristine CdS and Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S NRs under visible light irradiation were tracked in situ.…”

Photo-oxidation of nitrite anions in aqueous solution for the benchmarking of nano-TiO2 photocatalytic coatings

“…The small increase of the activity observed at high temperature can be explained considering the general enhancement of reaction rate with increasing temperature. An increase of the electrical conductivity of the photocatalysts, enabling the migration of the photo-generated electron and holes towards the surface and minimizing their recombination could also play a role [27].…”

Metal Sulfides for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production: Current Development and Future Challenges

“…[ 105,106 ] The photothermal effect increases the temperature of the reaction system and causes a collective effect involving multiple processes to improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, including charge density, charge lifetime, surface reaction, etc. [ 107–109 ] The photothermal effects can be generated by integrating photothermal materials such as carbon, [ 110 ] sulfide, [ 111,112 ] selenide, [ 113 ] carbide, [ 114 ] plasmonic metals, [ 115,116 ] or introducing defects. [ 117 ] Recently, we prepared a ternary Co 9 S 8 @ZnIn 2 S 4 @PdS (CS@ZIS@PS) hollow tubular core–shell composite photocatalyst.…”