Black Phosphorus Revisited: A Missing Metal-Free Elemental Photocatalyst for Visible Light Hydrogen Evolution.

Zhu, Xianjun; Zhang, Taiming; Sun, Zijun; Chen, Huanlin; Guan, Jian; Chen, Xiang; Ji, Hengxing; Du, Pingwu et al. · Adv Mater · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Metal-free elemental photocatalysts for hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub> ) evolution are more advantageous than the traditional metal-based inorganic photocatalysts since the nonmetal elements are generally cheaper, more earth-abundant, and environmentally friendly. Black phosphorus (BP) has been attracting increasing attention in recent years based on its anisotropic 2D layered structure with tunable bandgap in the range of 0.3-2.0 eV; however, the application of BP for photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub> evolution has been scarcely reported experimentally although being theoretically predicted. Herein, for the first time, the visible light photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub> evolution of BP nanosheets prepared via a facile solid-state mechanochemical method by ball-milling bulk BP is reported. Without using any noble metal cocatalyst, the visible light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of BP nanosheets reaches 512 µmol h<sup>-1</sup> g<sup>-1</sup> , which is ≈18 times higher than that of the bulk BP, and is comparable or even higher than that of graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C<sub>3</sub> N<sub>4</sub> ).