V-doped Ni2P nanoparticle grafted g-C3N4 nanosheets for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance under visible light

Abstract

Exploring low-cost and highly active photocatalysts with noble metal-free cocatalysts is of great significance for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under simulated sunlight irradiation. In this work, a novel V-doped Ni₂P nanoparticle loaded g-C₃N₄ nanosheet is reported as a highly efficient photocatalyst for H₂ evolution under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrate that the optimized 7.8 wt% V-Ni₂P/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst exhibits a high hydrogen evolution rate of 271.5 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is comparable to that of the 1 wt% Pt/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst (279 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), and shows favorable hydrogen evolution stability for five successive runs within 20 h. The remarkable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of V-Ni₂P/g-C₃N₄ is mainly due to the enhanced visible light absorption ability, the facilitated separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs, the prolonged lifetime of photo-generated carriers and the fast transmission ability of electrons.