A novel and highly efficient earth-abundant Cu3P with TiO2 P-N heterojunction nanophotocatalyst for hydrogen evolution from water

Semiconductor-based photocatalytic hydrogen (H-2) evolution from water is of great importance for solar-to-chemical conversion processes to boost and promote the future hydrogen economy. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate that p-Cu3P coupled with n-TiO2 forms a novel hybrid structure which accelerates electron-hole pair separation and transfer for improved photocatalytic H-2-evolution activity. The rate of H-2 evolution of the optimized Cu3P/TiO2 (7940 mu mol h(-1) g(-1)) is 11 times higher than that of bare TiO2, with an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 4.6%. This work may provide more insight into the synthesis of novel phosphide-based hybrid materials with high photocatalytic H-2-evolution activity and sufficient stability for solar-to-chemical conversion and utilization.