Transition metal phosphides as promising noble metal free cocatalysts are gaining increasing interest for hydrogen generation and other energy conversion reactions. The present study reports a new Fe2P/g‐C3N4 hybrid for efficient photocatalytic hydr...
Transition metal phosphides as promising noble metal free cocatalysts are gaining increasing interest for hydrogen generation and other energy conversion reactions. The present study reports a new Fe2P/g‐C3N4 hybrid for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation by water splitting under visible light irradiation. The H2 production rate obtained using this system is approximately 15 times higher than that obtained using pure g‐C3N4, and is comparable with that of Pt/g‐C3N4 under the same conditions. According to detailed studies using UV/Vis diffuse reflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopies as well as photoelectrochemical measurements, the reason for the high efficiency of the Fe2P/g‐C3N4 hybrid is due to a highly effective separation and low recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes rather than absorption under visible light. The present study reports a promising non‐toxic photocatalyst with low cost and high natural abundance for improving photocatalytic H2 generation.
Non‐noble behaviour: Fe2P was used as a co‐catalyst in combination with graphitic carbon nitride to form a hybrid system for use in photocatalytic hydrogen production. The Fe2P co‐catalyst was found to improve the photoinduced electron/hole separation efficiency of g‐C3N4, with the hybrid exhibiting superior photocatalytic performance for H2 generation from water splitting.