Photocatalytic hydrogen production over modified SiC nanowires under visible light irradiation

beta-SiC nanowires were synthesized by simple carbothermal reduction of a mixture composed of low-cost water glass and starch, and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, UV-visible absorption, FT-IR spectrometer and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The results show that the beta-SiC nanowires can absorb visible light and exhibit excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance from pure water under visible light irradiation. The hydrogen evolution rate can reach more than 60 mu L/g.h. siC nanowires by simple modification can greatly enhance the efficiency of H-2 production. Average H2 production rate over the modified SiC is 76.1% higher than that of unmodified SiC. The enhanced H-2 production is mainly due to stronger hydrophilic ability of the modified SiC. In addition, O-2 is detectable in the experiment, indicating that water has been decomposed into H-2 and O-2. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.