DOI: 10.1002/open.201900335
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Electrons and Hydroxyl Radicals Synergistically Boost the
Catalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Ammonia Borane over
[a, b]
[a]
[a]
Jin Song,
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
À 1
From the perspective of tailoring the reaction pathways of
photogenerated charge carriers and intermediates to remark-
ably enhance the solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion effi-
ciency, we synthesized the three low-cost semiconducting
nickel phosphides Ni P, Ni P and Ni P, which singly catalyzed
turnover frequency (TOF) value of 82.7 min , which exceeded
the values of reported metal phosphides at 298 K. The
enhanced activities of nickel phosphides were attributed to the
visible-light-driven synergistic effect of photogenerated elec-
trons (e ) and hydroxyl radicals ( OH), which came from the
oxidation of hydroxide anions by photogenerated holes. This
was verified by the fluorescent spectra and the capture experi-
ments of photogenerated electrons and holes as well as
hydroxyl radicals in the catalytic hydrogen evolution process.
À
*
2
12
5
3
the hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane (NH BH ) in the
3
3
alkaline aqueous solution under visible light irradiation at 298 K.
The systematic investigations showed that all the catalysts had
higher activities under visible light irradiation than in the dark
and Ni P had the highest photocatalytic activity with the initial
2
[
28–30]
1. Introduction
chemical energy conversion.
Importantly, the photogener-
ated charge carriers in semiconductors can promote many
In consideration of the global environment problems, hydrogen
energy has become a promising alternative to fossil fuels.
redox reactions including hydrogen evolution from small
[1,2]
[31,32]
molecules such as water.
For photocatalytic splitting of
The efficient storage and release of hydrogen are main barriers
during developing the hydrogen economy based on fuel
NH BH , the key is to explore low-cost catalytically active
3 3
semiconductors. It has been shown that non-precious metal
phosphides composed of P and earth abundant metals such as
[3,4]
cells. Ammonia borane (NH BH ) with low toxicity and high
3
3
hydrogen content (19.6 wt%) is an excellent chemical hydrogen
Ni have been used in water splitting as cocatalysts in photo-
[5–7]
[33,34]
storage material.
Up to now, a variety of catalysts based on
catalysis and catalysts in electrocatalysis.
However, no
non-noble metals such as Ni and Co have been explored for the
attention has been paid to using these metal phosphides as
photocatalysts without photosensitizers or photogenerated
electron acceptors such as metal nanoparticles probably due to
hydrogen evolution from NH BH3 (NH BH +2H O!NH BO +
3
3
3
2
4
2
[
8–18]
3
H ), which is a thermodynamics-controlled process.
How-
2
ever, their activities still remain low compared with the noble
that they have narrow band gaps and thus have no enough
[19–27]
[35]
metal catalysts.
Thus, it is highly desirable to explore new
redox potential to directly split water.
Different from the
catalytic systems using low-cost and efficient catalysts for
hydrogen evolution.
Compared with the thermocatalysis, the visible-light-driven
photocatalysis is considered as a friendly route for solar-to-
water splitting with non-spontaneous characteristics, NH BH ,
3
3
À 1
À 1
which has weak BÀ N (~117 kJ·mol ) and BÀ H (~430 kJ·mol )
[25,36]
bonds,
is relatively easy to split though the catalytic
reaction. In addition, photogenerated charge carriers such as
electrons and highly active groups such as hydroxyl radicals,
which are often used to promote chemical reactions, can
benefit the cleavage of BÀ H and BÀ N bonds in the photo-
catalytic splitting of NH BH . Bearing these aspects in mind, we
[
a] J. Song, Prof. X. Gu, H. Zhang
Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Coal Chemistry
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Inner Mongolia University
3
3
considered that if semiconducting metal phosphides such as
Ni P are directly used as catalysts under visible light irradiation,
Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, China.
E-mail: xiaojun.gu@yahoo.com
b] J. Song
x
y
[
the efficiency of hydrogen evolution from NH BH3 will be
3
Academician Expert Workstation of Ecological Governance and Green
Development of Bayan Nur
Department of Ecology and Resource Engineering
College of Hetao
Bayan Nur 015000, Inner Mongolia, China.
enhanced through the synergistic effect of photogenerated
electrons and hydroxyl radicals.
Herein, we reported a series of low-cost metal phosphides
Ni P, Ni P and Ni P with different structures, which were for
2
12
5
3
the first time used as single catalysts for hydrogen evolution
from NH BH in the alkaline aqueous solution under visible light
©
2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. This
3
3
is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attri-
bution Non-Commercial NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribu-
tion in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is
non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
irradiation at 298 K. Compared with the activities of all the
catalysts in the dark, their visible-light-driven activities were
enhanced and Ni P had the highest activity. Moreover, the
2
ChemistryOpen 2020, 9, 366–373
366
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA