Hydrogen evolution performance of Co-MOF/H-g-C3N4 composite catalysts with different morphologies under visible light

Abstract

The importance of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is increasing in energy research and environmental catalysis. Co-MOF, a metal–organic framework compound with a zeolite topological structure, has the advantage of being a semiconductor in photocatalytic applications. The new composite materials constructed by coupling Co-MOF with traditional semiconductors will significantly stimulate the potential of photocatalysis due to the construction of a heterogeneous interface. We accurately controlled the growth of Co-MOF with different morphologies by adjusting the ratio of raw materials. With the increase of dimethylimidazole, hexagonal prism morphology (Co-MOF-H), leaf morphology (Co-MOF-B), and Daisy morphology (Co-MOF-D) were successively synthesized. The experimental results show that H-g-C₃N₄ has the best catalytic activity when adsorbing hexagonal prism Co-MOF. When the ratio of H-g-C₃N₄ reached 125 mg, the optimal hydrogen evolution activity reached 1033 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. Various characterization methods were used to explain the influence of morphology regulation on the hydrogen evolution ability of Co-MOF and explore the mechanism of hydrogen evolution of Co-MOF/H-g-C₃N₄ composite catalysts.