Titania Composites with 2 D Transition Metal Carbides as Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Production under Visible‐Light Irradiation

Abstract

MXenes, a family of two-dimensional transition-metal carbides, were successfully demonstrated as co-catalysts with rutile TiO2 for visible-light-induced solar hydrogen production from water splitting. The physicochemical properties of Ti3 C2 Tx MXene coupled with TiO2 were investigated by a variety of characterization techniques. The effect of the Ti3 C2 Tx loading on the photocatalytic performance of the TiO2 /Ti3 C2 Tx composites was elucidated. With an optimized Ti3 C2 Tx content of 5 wt %, the TiO2 /Ti3 C2 Tx composite shows a 400 % enhancement in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction compared with that of pure rutile TiO2 . We also expanded our exploration to other MXenes (Nb2 CTx and Ti2 CTx ) as co-catalysts coupled with TiO2 , and these materials also exhibited enhanced hydrogen production. These results manifest the generality of MXenes as effective co-catalysts for solar hydrogen production.

2D Early Transition Metal Carbides (MXenes) for Catalysis

“…Due to the separation of photoinduced electron–hole pairs, the CdS/Ti 3 C 2 catalysts exhibited outstanding photocatalytic H 2 production activity of 14 342 µmol h −1 g −1 with high quantum efficiency of 40.1% (Figure b,c). MXenes were also applied as cocatalysts for improving the photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 for hydrogen production . Five percent of Ti 3 C 2 T x /TiO 2 delivered a fourfold enhancement in photocatalytic HER compared to pure TiO 2 .…”

Solar‐Inspired Water Purification Based on Emerging 2D Materials: Status and Challenges

“…It revealed that the composite displays higher hole–electron separation efficiency than single TiO 2 and Ti 3 C 2 under the same condition. Another report also proved that TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 nanocomposite has photocatalytic activity four times higher than single TiO 2 . Peng et al synthesized a mixture of (001) facets of layered Ti 3 C 2 and TiO 2 NSs to prominently improve the photocatalytic degradation ability of MO dye .…”

MXene‐Based Composites: Synthesis and Applications in Rechargeable Batteries and Supercapacitors

“…Ahmed et al fabricated SnO 2 / Ti 3 C 2 T x composite and the HfO 2 /SnO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composite by atomic layer deposition (ALD). [163] However, in situ hydrolysis growth mainly converts metal ions into the corresponding metal hydroxide, whether from multiple ions [187,188] or a single metal ion species. This growth method proceed at high temperature, and the processes do not have every react as a liquid.…”

“…For example, a prototype hybrid Na-ion capacitor was assembled by combining the bistacked MXene anode with an activated carbon cathode, which maintained up to 60% of its performance at a 60 C rate. [163,173,175] As an example, the co-catalysts of the Ti 3 C 2 T x /Zn x Cd 1−x S composite have an excellent photocatalytic performance for hydrogen production, since both materials contribute a synergistic effect. For example, in hydrogen production applications, the composites serve as efficient catalysts [3] or photocatalysis.…”

“…For example, in hydrogen production applications, the composites serve as efficient catalysts [3] or photocatalysis. [215] The surfaces of the MXene layers have many active sites, [137,219] which can be influenced by some substances, such as some specific molecules, [203] temperature variation, [203] light, [163] and so on. [173] Moreover, the Ti 3 C 2 T x / Ti composite shows good catalytic performance for CO oxidation.…”