Volume 21, Issue 3 2408330
Research Article

Facilitating Oriented Electron Transfer from Cu to Mo2C MXene for Weakened Mo─H Bond Toward Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Generation

Ruiyun Liu

Ruiyun Liu

School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, 122 Luoshi Road, Wuhan, 430070 China

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Ping Wang

Corresponding Author

Ping Wang

School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, 122 Luoshi Road, Wuhan, 430070 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Xuefei Wang

Xuefei Wang

School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, 122 Luoshi Road, Wuhan, 430070 China

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Feng Chen

Feng Chen

School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, 122 Luoshi Road, Wuhan, 430070 China

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Huogen Yu

Corresponding Author

Huogen Yu

Laboratory of Solar Fuel, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan, 430074 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 27 November 2024
Citations: 1

Abstract

Mo2C MXene (Mo2CTx) is recognized as an excellent cocatalyst due to unique physicochemical properties and platinum-like d-band of Mo active sites. However, Mo sites of Mo2CTx with high-density empty d-orbitals exhibit strong Mo─Hads bonds during photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, leading to easy adsorption of hydrogen ions from solution and unfavorable desorption of H2 from Mo sites. To weaken the Mo─Hads bond, a strategy of oriented electron transfer from Cu to Mo2CTx to increase the antibonding orbital occupancy of Mo─Hads hybrid orbitals is implemented by introducing Cu into Mo2CTx interlayers to form Cu-Mo2CTx. The Cu-Mo2CTx is synthesized from Mo2Ga2C and CuCl2 via a one-step molten salt method and combined with TiO2 to form Cu-Mo2CTx/TiO2 photocatalyst through an ultrasound-assisted approach. Hydrogen production tests reveal that an exceptional performance of Cu-Mo2CTx/TiO2 (6446 µmol h−1 g−1, AQE = 18.3%) is 8.4 fold higher than that of Mo2CF2/TiO2 (Mo2CF2 by the conventional etchant NH4F+HCl). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and characterization results corroborate that the oriented electron transfer from Cu to Mo2CTx increases the Mo─Hads antibonding occupancy in Cu-Mo2CTx, thereby weakening Mo─Hads bonds and accelerating the hydrogen evolution rate of TiO2. This research offers valuable insights into optimizing H-adsorption capabilities at active sites on MXene materials.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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