Hydrogen production with ultrahigh efficiency under visible light by graphene well-wrapped UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons

An efficient catalytic system and surface modification are considered as two important routes for the enhancement of MOF-based photocatalytic properties. Herein, we report a significant improvement in hydrogen production efficiency with MOFs achieved through both the abovementioned routes. With the newly developed highly efficient TEOA-ErB system, H-2 generation rate on UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons could amount to 21.2 mmol h(-1) g(-1). Then, based on this system, the interaction of the UiO-66-NH2 surface with graphene was judiciously controlled. The prepared graphene well-wrapped UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons, in which every face was in contact with graphene, led to the highest H-2 production efficiency of 41.4 mmol h(-1) g(-1). These findings suggest that MOFs could potentially evolve into highly efficient photocatalysts when incorporated into a proper system and further revealed that modifications on the surface of MOFs might result in a better inhibition of electron-hole recombination in H-2 generation.