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Nano Research 2016, 9(3): 886-898 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0971-z
Research Article | Issue | Published: 14 January 2016

Mesoporous silicon carbide nanofibers with in situ embedded carbon for co-catalyst free photocatalytic hydrogen production

Show Author's Information Bing Wang1,  Yingde Wang1( ),  Yongpeng Lei2( ),  Nan Wu1,  Yanzi Gou1,  Cheng Han1,  Song Xie1,  Dong Fang3
Science and Technology on Advanced Ceramic Fiber and Composites LaboratoryNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073China
College of Basic EducationNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073China
College of Materials Science and EngineeringWuhan Textile UniversityWuhan430074China
Keywords:
carbon, photocatalyst, silicon carbide, co-catalyst free, hydrogen production
Cite this article:
Wang B, Wang Y, Lei Y, et al. Mesoporous silicon carbide nanofibers with in situ embedded carbon for co-catalyst free photocatalytic hydrogen production. Nano Research, 2016, 9(3): 886-898. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0971-z
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

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 μmol·g–1·h–1) 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 highpH 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, lowcost, high efficiency, and co-catalyst-free photocatalysts.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Mesoporous silicon carbide nanofibers with in situ embedded carbon for co-catalyst free photocatalytic hydrogen production

Show Author's information Bing Wang1, Yingde Wang1( ), Yongpeng Lei2( ), Nan Wu1, Yanzi Gou1, Cheng Han1, Song Xie1, Dong Fang3
Science and Technology on Advanced Ceramic Fiber and Composites LaboratoryNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073China
College of Basic EducationNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073China
College of Materials Science and EngineeringWuhan Textile UniversityWuhan430074China

Abstract

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 μmol·g–1·h–1) 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 highpH 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, lowcost, high efficiency, and co-catalyst-free photocatalysts.

Keywords: carbon, photocatalyst, silicon carbide, co-catalyst free, hydrogen production

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 09 September 2015
Revised: 12 November 2015
Accepted: 07 December 2015
Published: 14 January 2016
Issue date: March 2016

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

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.

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