摘要
Silicon carbide （SIC） has been considered a promising metal-free photocatalyst due to its unique photoelectrical properties and thermal/chemical stability. However, its performance suffers from the fast recombination of charge carriers. Herein, we report mesoporous SiC nanofibers with in situ embedded graphitic carbon （SiC NFs-Cx） synthesized via a one-step carbothermal reduction between electrospun carbon nanofibers and Si powders. In the absence of a noble metal co-catalyst, the hydrogen evolution efficiency of SiC NFs-Cx is significantly improved under both simulated solar light （180.2 μmol.g-1.h-1） and visible light irradiation （31.0 ~amol-g-l-h-~） in high-pH solution. The efficient simultaneous separation of charge carriers plays a critical role in the high photocatalytic activity. The embedded carbon can swiftly transfer the photogenerated electrons and improve light absorption, whereas the additional hydroxyl anions （OH-） in high- pH solution can accelerate the trapping of holes. Our results demonstrate that the production of SiC NFs-Cx, which contains exclusively earth-abundant elements, scaled up, and is environmentally friendly, has great potential for practical applications. This work may provide a new pathway for designing stable, low- cost, high efficiency, and co-catalyst-free photocatalysts.
Silicon carbide （SIC） has been considered a promising metal-free photocatalyst due to its unique photoelectrical properties and thermal/chemical stability. However, its performance suffers from the fast recombination of charge carriers. Herein, we report mesoporous SiC nanofibers with in situ embedded graphitic carbon （SiC NFs-Cx） synthesized via a one-step carbothermal reduction between electrospun carbon nanofibers and Si powders. In the absence of a noble metal co-catalyst, the hydrogen evolution efficiency of SiC NFs-Cx is significantly improved under both simulated solar light （180.2 μmol.g-1.h-1） and visible light irradiation （31.0 ~amol-g-l-h-~） in high-pH solution. The efficient simultaneous separation of charge carriers plays a critical role in the high photocatalytic activity. The embedded carbon can swiftly transfer the photogenerated electrons and improve light absorption, whereas the additional hydroxyl anions （OH-） in high- pH solution can accelerate the trapping of holes. Our results demonstrate that the production of SiC NFs-Cx, which contains exclusively earth-abundant elements, scaled up, and is environmentally friendly, has great potential for practical applications. This work may provide a new pathway for designing stable, low- cost, high efficiency, and co-catalyst-free photocatalysts.
基金
The work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China （Nos. 51173202 and 51203182）, Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 13JJ4009）, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing （Wuhan University of Technology） （No. 2014-KF-10）, the State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology （No. G201501） and Research Project of National University of Defense Technology （No. JC13-01-05）. This work was also supported by Aid program for Science and Technology Innovative Research Team in Higher Educational Institutions of Hunan Province and Aid Program for Innovative Group of National University of Defense Technology.
