Single-Atom Pd–N3 Sites on Carbon-Deficient g-C3N4 for Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

• Published in: Transactions of Tianjin University Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 139 - 146
• Main Authors: Liu, Guimei, Lv, Haiqin, Zeng, Yubin, Yuan, Mingzhe, Meng, Qingguo, Wang, Yuanhao, Wang, Chuanyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tianjin Tianjin University 01-04-2021; Springer Nature B.V; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Environmental Purification and Functional Materials,Guangzhou 511400, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Accoutrement Technique in Fluid Machinery and Power Engineering, Hubei 430072, China; Shenyang Institute of Automation, Guangzhou, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou 511400, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Environmental Purification and Functional Materials,Guangzhou 511400, China%Hubei Key Laboratory of Accoutrement Technique in Fluid Machinery and Power Engineering, Hubei 430072, China%SUSTech Engineering Innovation Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518000,China%Shenyang Institute of Automation, Guangzhou, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou 511400, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Accoutrement Technique in Fluid Machinery and Power Engineering, Hubei 430072, China%Shenyang Institute of Automation, Guangzhou, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou 511400, China
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nitride; Catalytic activity; Coordination; Current carriers; Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen evolution; Hydrogen production; Mechanical Engineering; multidisciplinary; Photocatalysis; Research Article; Science; Separation; Photocatalytic; Pd; Active sites; Hydrogen; g-C; Single-atom; N; g-C3N4
• ISSN: 1006-4982; 1995-8196
• DOI: 10.1007/s12209-020-00279-z

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is an attractive field for future environment-friendly energy. However, fast recombination of photogenerated charges severely inhibits hydrogen efficiency. Single-atom cocatalysts such as Pt have emerged as an effective method to enhance the photocatalytic activity by introduction of active sites and boosting charge separation with low-coordination environment. Herein, we demonstrated a new strategy to develop a highly active Pd single atom in carbon-deficient g-C
3
N
4
with a unique coordination. The single-atom Pd–N
3
sites constructed by oil bath heating and photoreduction process were confirmed by HADDF-STEM and XPS measurements. Introduction of single-atom Pd greatly improved the separation and transportation of charge carriers, leading to a longer lifespan for consequent reactions. The obtained single-atom Pd loaded on the carbon-deficient g–C
3
N
4
showed excellent photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production with about 24 and 4 times higher activity than that of g–C
3
N
4
and nano-sized Pd on the same support, respectively. This work provides a new insight on the design of single-atom catalyst.