Laminated Hybrid Junction of Sulfur‐Doped TiO2 and a Carbon Substrate Derived from Ti3C2 MXenes: Toward Highly Visible Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 5; no. 6; pp. 1700870 - n/a
• Main Authors: Yuan, Wenyu, Cheng, Laifei, An, Yurong, Lv, Shilin, Wu, Heng, Fan, Xiaoli, Zhang, Yani, Guo, Xiaohui, Tang, Junwang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.06.2018; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Carbon; doping; Energy; Etching; Graphene; High temperature; Hydrogen; Light; MXenes; Nanoparticles; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; photocatalytic materials; Semiconductors; Spectrum analysis; Sulfur; TiO2
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.201700870

TiO2 is an ideal photocatalyst candidate except for its large bandgap and fast charge recombination. A novel laminated junction composed of defect‐controlled and sulfur‐doped TiO2 with carbon substrate (LDC‐S‐TiO2/C) is synthesized using the 2D transition metal carbides (MXenes) as a template to enhance light absorption and improve charge separation. The prepared LDC‐S‐TiO2/C catalyst delivers a high photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 333 µmol g−1 h−1 with a high apparent quantum yield of 7.36% at 400 nm and it is also active even at 600 nm, resulting into a 48 time activity compared with L‐TiO2/C under visible light irradiation. Further theoretical modeling calculation indicates that such novel approach also reduces activation energy of hydrogen production apart from broadening the absorption wavelength, facilitating charge separation, and creating a large surface area substrate. This synergic effect can also be applied to other photocatalysts' modification. The study provides a novel approach for synthesis defective metal oxides based hybrids and broaden the applications of MXene family. A laminated hybrid junction of sulfur‐doped TiO2 and carbon substrate via a sulfur impregnation into Ti3C2 MXenes and the subsequent oxidation processes is demonstrated. The defects design on carbon is helpful for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity and a novel method is demonstrated to synthesize highly active photocatalysts for solar energy conversion.