Visible light driven photo-reduction of Cu2+ to Cu2O to Cu in water for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Metal nanoparticles are synthesized via various methods and have found many applications in areas such as sensing, electronics and catalysis. Light induced formation of noble metal nanoparticles, especially platinum, in solution or loaded on semiconductor surfaces, is an established practice in photocatalysis. Nevertheless, preparation of catalytically-active non-precious metal nanoparticles via photo-reduction still have room to be further explored. Here, we report a visible light driven system that can coordinate photo-reduction of CuSO4 to selectively prepare Cu2O or Cu nanoparticles, while at the same time, mediating efficient hydrogen production with in situ generating Cu catalyst without further need to add any components. The Cu2O and Cu nanoparticles in situ generated are crystalline in nature and can perform as pre-catalyst (Cu2O) or catalyst (Cu) to catalyze hydrogen production when reincorporated into the same photo-reduction system with organic photosensitizers. Our work offers an exploratory pathway to prepare target metal nanoparticles while provides some insight into harnessing solar energy for multi-functional purposes.

Highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO using cobalt oxide-coated spherical mesoporous silica particles as catalysts.

New spherical hybrid materials as-synthesized by Cobalt oxide nanoparticles immobilized in situ on the outside surfaces of mesoporous silica particles exhibited highly efficient visible-light-driven catalytic performance towards CO2-to-CO conversion. An average generation rate of CO of up to 25 626 µmol h-1 g-1 with a selectivity of 83.0% was achieved.

An Unexpected Iron (II)-Based Homogeneous Catalytic System for Highly Efficient CO2-to-CO Conversion under Visible-Light Irradiation.

We present two as-synthesized Fe(II)-based molecular catalysts with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands; Fe(phen)3Cl2 (1) and [Fe(phen)2(CH3CH2OH)Cl]Cl (2), and their robust catalytic properties for the conversion of CO2 to CO in DMF/TEOA (DMF = N,N'-dimethylformamide; TEOA = triethanolamine) solution containing Ru(bpy)32+ and BIH (1,3-dimethyl-2-phenyl-2,3- dihydro-1H-benzo-[d]-imidazole). High turnover numbers (TONs) of 19,376 were achieved with turnover frequencies (TOFs) of 3.07 s-1 for complex 1 (1.5 × 10-7 M). A quantum efficiency of 0.38% was observed after 5 h irradiated by 450 nm monochromatic light. The generation rate of CO2 and H2 were tuned by optimizing the experimental conditions, resulting in a high CO selectivity of 90%. The remarkable contribution of the photosensitizer to the total TONCO was found being 19.2% (as shown by tests under similar conditions without catalysts) when BIH was employed as a sacrificial electron donor. The product selectivity in complex 2 reached 95%, and the corresponding TONCO and TOFCO were 33,167 and 4.61 s-1 in the same concentration with complex 1 used as catalyst; respectively. This work provides guidance for future designs of simple, highly efficient and selective molecular catalytic systems that facilitate carbon-neutral solar-to-fuel conversion processes.

An Exceptionally Efficient Co-Co2 P@N, P-Codoped Carbon Hybrid Catalyst for Visible Light-Driven CO2 -to-CO Conversion.

Artificial photosynthesis has attracted wide attention, particularly the development of efficient solar light-driven methods to reduce CO2 to form energy-rich carbon-based products. Because CO2 reduction is an uphill process with a large energy barrier, suitable catalysts are necessary to achieve this transformation. In addition, CO2 adsorption on a catalyst and proton transfer to CO2 are two important factors for the conversion reaction, and catalysts with high surface area and more active sites are required to improve the efficiency of CO2 reduction. Here, a visible light-driven system for CO2 -to-CO conversion is reported, which consists of a heterogeneous hybrid catalyst of Co and Co2 P nanoparticles embedded in carbon nanolayers codoped with N and P (Co-Co2 P@NPC) and a homogeneous RuII -based complex photosensitizer. The average generation rate of CO of the system was up to 35 000 µmol h-1 g-1 with selectivity of 79.1 % in 3 h. Linear CO production at an exceptionally high rate of 63 000 µmol h-1 g-1 was observed in the first hour of reaction. Inspired by this highly active catalyst, Co@NC and Co2 P@NPC materials were also synthesized and their structure, morphology, and catalytic properties for CO2 photoreduction were explored. The results showed that the nanoparticle size, partially adsorbed H2 O molecules on the catalyst surface, and the hybrid nature of the systems influenced their photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance.

Tunable Multicolor Phosphorescence of Crystalline Polymeric Complex Salts with Metallophilic Backbones.

A total of 35 [Au(NHC)2 ][MX2 ] (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene; M=Au or Cu; X=halide, cyanide or arylacetylide) complex salts were synthesized by co-precipitation of [Au(NHC)2 ]+ cations and [MX2 ]- anions. These salts contain crystallographically determined polymeric Au⋅⋅⋅Au or Au⋅⋅⋅Cu interactions and are highly phosphorescent with quantum yields up to unity and emission color tunable in the entire visible regions. The nature of the emissive excited states is generally assigned to ligand (anion)-to-ligand (cation) charge-transfer transitions assisted by d10 ⋅⋅⋅d10 metallophilicity. The emission properties can be further tuned by controlled triple-component co-crystallization or by epitaxial growth. Correct recipes for white light-emitting phosphors with quantum yields higher than 70 % have been achieved by screening the combinatorial pool.

Heteroporous MoS2/Ni3S2 towards superior electrocatalytic overall urea splitting.

The heteroporous MoS2/Ni3S2 catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for the overall urea splitting with only a cell voltage of 1.45 V at 20 mA cm-2 in 1 M KOH with 0.33 M urea. This value is the best of all the bifunctional urea splitting electrocatalysts, including Pt, reported to date.

Highly Efficient Photocatalytic System Constructed from CoP/Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene for Visible-Light-Driven CO2 Reduction.

Visible-light-driven conversion of CO2 to CO and high-value-added carbon products is a promising strategy for mitigating CO2 emissions and reserving solar energy in chemical form. We report an efficient system for CO2 transformation to CO catalyzed by bare CoP, hybrid CoP/carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and CoP/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in mixed aqueous solutions containing a Ru-based photosensitizer, under visible-light irradiation. The in situ prepared hybrid catalysts CoP/CNT and CoP/rGO show excellent catalytic activities in CO2 reduction to CO, with a catalytic rates of up to 39 510 and 47 330 µmol h-1 g-1 in the first 2 h of reaction, respectively; a high CO selectivity of 73.1 % for the former was achieved in parallel competing reactions in the photoreduction of CO2 and H2 O. A combination of experimental and computational studies clearly shows that strong interactions between CoP and carbon-supported materials and partially adsorbed H2 O molecules on the catalyst surface significantly improve CO-generating rates.

In Situ Preparation of CoP@CdS and Its Catalytic Activity toward Controlling Nitro Reduction under Visible-Light Irradiation.

CoP was synthesized in situ on the surface of CdS nanowires using a cobalt-ammine complex as a precursor. The generated CoP@CdS photocatalyst was well characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and diffuse reflectance spectra. A more efficient charge transfer was successfully achieved owing to the close contact between CoP and CdS. The hybrid photocatalyst showed excellent activity for the reduction of nitroarenes to the corresponding anilines or azobenzene compounds in water. In present work, hydrogen evolution and nitro reduction were concurrent and with the consumption of substrate, the rate of hydrogen evolution increased. The driving force for the reduction originated from the activated hydrogen species in the photocatalytic reaction rather than from dihydrogen. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared CoP@CdS in situ is comparable to that of the catalysts formed using a noble metal loaded onto CdS. Mechanistic investigation showed that the condensation route is the major pathway for nitro reduction in the present system, and azo compounds could be obtained with less irradiation time, while aniline will be obtained via long-time irradiation.

Cu(OH)2 supported on Fe(OH)3 as a synergistic and highly efficient system for the dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane.

Herein, we first describe the physical mixture of Cu(OH)2/Fe(OH)3 as a composite catalyst precursor for the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB) in methanol. During the initial period of catalytic reaction, Cu nanoparticles were formed in-situ. The catalytic activity of Cu nanoparticles can be significantly enhanced with the assistance of Fe species and OH-. A maximum turnover frequency (TOF) of 50.3 molH2 moltotal metal-1 min-1 (135.6 molH2 molCu-1 min-1) was achieved at ambient temperature, which is superior to those of previously reported Fe or Cu based systems.

Interstitial P-Doped CdS with Long-Lived Photogenerated Electrons for Photocatalytic Water Splitting without Sacrificial Agents.

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from pure water is successfully realized by using interstitial P-doped CdS with rich S vacancies (CdS-P) as the photocatalyst in the absence of any electron sacrificial agents. Through interstitial P doping, the impurity level of S vacancies is located near the Fermi level and becomes an effective electron trap level in CdS-P, which can change dynamic properties of photogenerated electrons and thus prolong their lifetimes. The long-lived photogenerated electrons are able to reach the surface active sites to initiate an efficient photocatalytic redox reaction. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of CdS-P can be further improved through the loading of CoP as a cocatalyst.

Metal Phosphides as Co-Catalysts for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting.

Solar-to-hydrogen conversion based on photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic water splitting is considered as a promising technology for sustainable hydrogen production. Developing earth-abundant H2 -production materials with robust activity and stability has become the mainstream in this field. Due to the unique properties and characteristics, transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been proven to be high performance co-catalysts to replace some of the classic precious metal materials in photocatalytic water splitting. In this Minireview, we summarize the recent significant progress of TMPs as cocatalysts for water splitting reaction with high activity and stability. Firstly, the characteristic of TMPs is briefly introduced. Then, we mainly discuss the recent research efforts toward their application as photocatalytic co-catalysts in photocatalytic H2 -production, O2 -evolution and photoelectrochemical water splitting. Finally, the catalytic mechanism, current existing challenges and future working directions for improving the performance of TMPs are proposed.

Highly efficient hydrolysis of ammonia borane by anion (-OH, F-, Cl-)-tuned interactions between reactant molecules and CoP nanoparticles.

The CoP nanoparticle catalyst had excellent catalytic activity and a short catalytic induction period in the presence of anions, and high sustainability in ammonia borane hydrolysis, with an initial turnover frequency of 72.2 mol(H2) mol(CoP)-1 min-1 at ambient temperature. This value is unprecedented for noble-metal-free catalytic systems.

Rapid synthesis of ultralong Fe(OH)3:Cu(OH)2 core-shell nanowires self-supported on copper foam as a highly efficient 3D electrode for water oxidation.

One-dimensional core-shell nanowire materials have recently received great attention as durable catalysts for water splitting. Herein we report the facile and rapid synthesis of ultralong Fe(OH)3:Cu(OH)2 core-shell nanowires grown in situ on an open 3D electrode to function as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation. It only requires an overpotential of ∼365 mV to reach a 10 mA cm-2 current density in 1.0 M KOH. As far as we know, this shows the best result amongst Cu-based heterogeneous OER systems reported to date.

Self-Supported Cedarlike Semimetallic Cu3P Nanoarrays as a 3D High-Performance Janus Electrode for Both Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution under Basic Conditions.

There has been strong and growing interest in the development of cost-effective and highly active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts for alternative fuels utilization and conversion devices. We report herein that semimetallic Cu3P nanoarrays directly grown on 3D copper foam (CF) substrate can function as effective electrocatalysts for water oxidation. Specifically, the surface oxidation-activated Cu3P only required a relatively low overpotential of 412 mV to achieve a current density of 50 mA cm(-2) and displayed a small Tafel slope of 63 mV dec(-1) in 0.1 M KOH solution, on account of the collaborative effect of large roughness factor (RF) and semimetallic character. Following that, investigations into the mechanism revealed the formation of a unique active phase during the water oxidation process in which conductive Cu3P was the core covered with a thin copper oxide/hydroxide layer. Moreover, this Cu3P 3D electrode was also applied to the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and showed good catalytic performance and stability under the same basic conditions.

Self-Supported Cu-Based Nanowire Arrays as Noble-Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution.

Crystalline Cu-based nanowire arrays (NWAs) including Cu(OH)2 , CuO, Cu2 O, and CuOx are facilely grown on Cu foil and are found to act as highly efficient, low-cost, and robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Impressively, this noble-metal-free 3 D Cu(OH)2 -NWAs/Cu foil electrode shows the highest catalytic activity with a Tafel slope of 86 mV dec(-1) , an overpotential (η) of about 530 mV at ∼10 mA cm(-2) (controlled-potential electrolysis method without iR correction) and almost 100 % Faradic efficiency, paralleling the performance of the state-of-the-art RuO2 OER catalyst in 0.1 m NaOH solution (pH 12.8). To the best of our knowledge, this work represents one of the best results ever reported on Cu-based OER systems.

Robustly photogenerating H2 in water using FeP/CdS catalyst under solar irradiation.

Photosplitting water for H2 production is a promising, sustainable approach for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. However, developing low-cost, high efficient and stable photocatalysts remains the major challenge. Here we report a composite photocatalyst consisting of FeP nanoparticles and CdS nanocrystals (FeP/CdS) for photogenerating H2 in aqueous lactic acid solution under visible light irradiation. Experimental results demonstrate that the photocatalyst is highly active with a H2-evolution rate of 202000 µmol h(-1) g(-1) for the first 5 h (106000 µmol h(-1) g(-1) under natural solar irradiation), which is the best H2 evolution activity, even 3-fold higher than the control in situ photo-deposited Pt/CdS system, and the corresponding to an apparent quantum efficiency of over 35% at 520 nm. More important, we found that the system exhibited excellent stability and remained effective after more than 100 h in optimal conditions under visible light irradiation. A wide-ranging analysis verified that FeP effectively separates the photoexcited charge from CdS and showed that the dual active sites in FeP enhance the activity of FeP/CdS photocatalysts.

Ultrafine CoP Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotubes as Highly Active Electrocatalyst for Both Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution in Basic Media.

The development of low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts for two half reactions: H2 and O2 evolution reactions (HER and OER), is still a huge challenge to realize water splitting. Herein, we report that CoP nanoparticles (NPs) can act as a bifunctional catalyst for both HER and OER. Particularly, ultrafine CoP NPs decorated on N-doped multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exhibit remarkable catalytic performance for OER in 0.1 M NaOH aqueous solution, with a low onset overpotential of 290 mV, a Tafel slope of 50 mV dec(-1), an overpotential (η) of 330 mV at 10 mA cm(-2), and approximately 100% Faradaic efficiency, paralleling the performance of state-of-the-art Co-based OER catalysts including Co3O4, CoSe2, and Co-Pi. The hybrid catalyst is capable of maintaining a high catalytic current density for at least 10 h without any loss of catalytic activity. Meanwhile, the noble-metal-free catalyst also shows good activity and duarability for HER under the same basic condition.

Nanostructured Ni2 P as a Robust Catalyst for the Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia-Borane.

Ammonia-borane (AB) is a promising chemical hydrogen-storage material. However, the development of real-time, efficient, controllable, and safe methods for hydrogen release under mild conditions is a challenge in the large-scale use of hydrogen as a long-term solution for future energy security. A new class of low-cost catalytic system is presented that uses nanostructured Ni2 P as catalyst, which exhibits excellent catalytic activity and high sustainability toward hydrolysis of ammonia-borane with the initial turnover frequency of 40.4 mol(H2) mol(Ni2P) (-1) min(-1) under air atmosphere and at ambient temperature. This value is higher than those reported for noble-metal-free catalysts, and the obtained Arrhenius activation energy (Ea =44.6 kJ mol(-1) ) for the hydrolysis reaction is comparable to Ru-based bimetallic catalysts. A clearly mechanistic analysis of the hydrolytic reaction of AB based on experimental results and a density functional theory calculation is presented.

Highly efficient and selective photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes using the Ni2P/CdS catalyst under visible-light irradiation.

A highly efficient and selective heterogeneous photocatalytic system for nitro reduction to amino organics was established using CdS, Ni2P and Na2S/Na2SO3 as a photosensitizer, a cocatalyst and a sacrificial electron donor in aqueous solution, respectively. Two competing pathways for photocatalytic H2 production and nitro reduction were found. Also, the reduction of nitroarenes to aniline was confirmed to proceed through both the direct and condensation routes.

New platinum and ruthenium Schiff base complexes for water splitting reactions.

New platinum(ii) and ruthenium(ii) mononuclear complexes with naphthalene-based Schiff base ligands L1 (H2-selnaph) and L2 (H2-selnaph-COOH) were synthesized: Pt-selnaph (), Pt-selnaph-COOH (), Ru-selnaph(4-picoline)2 (), and Ru-selnaph(isoquinoline)2 (). The complexes were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight spectrometry, and elemental analysis, and their electrochemical and photophysical properties were investigated. The luminescent complexes and were used as photosensitizers for visible-light driven hydrogen production reactions in the presence of sacrificial electron donor triethylamine and cocatalyst precursor K2PtCl4 aqueous solution. When complex was attached to the surface of TiO2 by a carboxyl group, enhanced hydrogen photogeneration was achieved compared with complex alone, with turnover numbers of about 84 after 12 h irradiation. Calculations based on electrochemical and spectroscopic data also confirmed the feasibility of electron injection through the carboxyl group of complex into the conduction band of TiO2 for hydrogen production reactions. Complexes and were found to be efficient stable water oxidation (NH4)2Ce(NO3)6-driven catalysts with a first-order reaction behavior. A turnover frequency of 5.34 min(-1) was achieved for complex , while complex exhibited an enhanced turnover frequency of 11.9 min(-1) in pH 1.0 aqueous solution. Turnover numbers up to 1400 and 2060 were obtained after 6.5 h of reaction for and , respectively. Unique mechanistic information for water splitting is also presented through electrochemical, spectroscopic and ESI-MS high-valent ruthenium-oxo intermediate investigations.