The photocatalytic water splitting is a key technology for long-term hydrogen evolution with low environmental impact. In this work, a photocatalysts consisting of nanoscale FeS2-TiO2 heterostructures was successfully fabricated by wet chemical synthesis. The structural and optical properties of the FeS2-TiO2 heterostructures were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The detailed mechanism of carrier dynamics for FeS2-TiO2 heterostructure was investigated by ultrafast optical spectroscopy. The highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of FeS2-TiO2 heterostructure has been obtained in comparison with FeS2 nanocrystals (NCs) and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) by irradiation of mercury arc lamp or xenon lamp. In the FeS2-TiO2 heterostructure, the FeS2 NCs as a light harvester can efficiently absorb visible and NIR light to generate much more photoelectrons than TiO2 NPs only for hydrogen production. Our FeS2-TiO2 heterostructures also reveal an outstanding durability over 40 h for long term photocatalytic hydrogen production. Overall, the FeS2-TiO2 heterostructure shows potential to be a TiO2-based photocatalyst for clean hydrogen production in practical applications.

Earth-abundant FeS2-TiO2 heterostructures for highly active photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from UV, visible to near infrared light

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.