Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production of S-scheme TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction loaded with single-atom Ni

S-scheme heterostructure photocatalysts can achieve highly efficient solar energy utilization. Here, singleatom Ni species were deposited onto TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 (TCN) composite photocatalyst with an S-scheme heterojunction for highly efficient photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen. Under solar irradiation, it realized the hydrogen production activity of 134 mu mol g -1 h -1 , about 5 times higher than the TCN without atomic Ni. In-situ Kelvin probe force microscopy characterization and the density functional calculation certify that by forming the S-scheme heterojunction, the photo-excited electrons from the TiO 2 combine with the photogenerated holes at the coupled g-C 3 N 4 driven by a built-in electric field. More importantly, the single-atom Ni species stabilized the photogenerated electrons from the g-C 3 N 4 could effectively enhance the charge separation between the holes on the valence band of TiO 2 and electrons at the conduction band of g-C 3 N 4 . Meanwhile, the Ni atoms act as the surface catalytic centers for the water reduction reaction, which greatly improves the reactivity of the photocatalyst. The present work provides a new approach for developing noble metal-free heterojunctions for high-efficiency photocatalysis. (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

Automated summary

Single-atom Ni species deposited onto TiO2/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst with an S-scheme heterojunction achieved highly efficient photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen. The formation of the S-scheme heterojunction facilitated the combination of photo-excited electrons from TiO2 with photogenerated holes at g-C3N4, while the Ni atoms acted as surface catalytic centers to enhance the reactivity of the photocatalyst. This study provides a new approach for developing noble metal-free heterojunctions for high-performance photocatalysis.