Synergistic effect of Ru embedded 2D Ti3AlC2 binary cocatalyst with porous g-C3N4 to construct 2D/2D Ru-MAX/PCN heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic H2 production

Abstract

Developing engineering advanced semiconductor materials with low cost and high efficiency have great importance in solar assisted hydrogen production. In this work, well-designed Ru modulated oxygen defective Ti3AlC2 MAX multilayers binary cocatalyst with porous g-C3N4 has been fabricated through ultrasonic approach. Synergistic effect of Ru/Ti3AlC2 enabling proficient charge carrier transportation for significantly enhanced H2 production. The optimized 3Ru-15Ti3AlC2/g-C3N4 exhibited 1445 µmol g-1h-1 of H2 evolution rate which is 7.67 and 16.35 times more than using 15Ti3AlC2/CN and CN samples. The obvious augmented H2 production can be attributed to efficient charges separation with higher light absorption due to Ru/Ti3AlC2 binary cocatalyst. The catalyst loading and sacrificial reagents further confirms mass transfer and surface-active sites exposed to light irradiation. This study provides new approach to construct heterojunction of 2D/2D self-assembly, enabling synergistically improved quantum yield with higher cyclic stability and can be further explored in other solar energy assisted applications.