Surface-Controlled CdS/Ti3C2 MXene Schottky Junction for Highly Selective and Active Photocatalytic Dehydrogenation-Reductive Amination

Photocatalytic valorization and selective transformation of biomass-derived platform compounds offer great opportunities for efficient utilization of renewable resources under mild conditions. Here, the novel three-dimensional hierarchical flower-like CdS/Ti3C2 Schottky junction (MCdS) composed of surface-controlled CdS and pretreated Ti3C2 MXene is created for photocatalytic dehydrogenation-reductive amination of biomass-derived amino acid production under ambient temperature with unprecedented activity and selectivity. Schottky junction efficiently promotes photoexcited charge migration and separation and inhibits photogenerated electron-hole recombination, which results in a super-high activity. Meanwhile, CdS with the reduced surface energy supplies sufficient hydrogen sources for imine reduction and induces the preferential orientation of alanine, thus contributing superior selectivity. Moreover, a wide range of hydroxyl acids are successfully converted into corresponding amino acids and even one-pot conversion of glucose to alanine is easily achieved over MCdS. This work illustrates the mechanism of crystal orientation control and heterojunction construction in controlling catalytic behavior of photocatalytic nanoreactor, providing a paradigm for construction of MXene-based heterostructure.

Automated summary

This study successfully achieved photocatalytic dehydrogenation-reductive amination of biomass-derived amino acid production using a three-dimensional hierarchical photocatalyst, which exhibited high activity and selectivity.