Research paperNoble metal-free near-infrared-driven photocatalyst for hydrogen production based on 2D hybrid of black Phosphorus/WS2

•2D hybrid of BP/WS2 as a noble metal-free photocatalyst.•BP/WS2 shows effective photocatalytic H2 production under NIR light irradiation.•Effective charger transfer occurs between excited BP and WS2 nanosheets.•BP/WS2 acts as cost-effective NIR-driven photocatalyst in solar energy conversion.

Efficient production of H2 from water using solar energy holds tremendous promise for clean energy. The optimal photocatalysts require earth abundant elements for the cost-effective as well as harvesting broad spectrum of solar light, particularly in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Therefore, pathways leading to NIR-driven H2 production activity on noble metal-free photocatalyst are of high scientific and economic interest. Here we report a binary two dimensional (2D) hybrid of black phosphorus (BP) and WS2 as noble metal-free NIR-driven photocatalyst for H2 production. Under >780 nm NIR light irradiation, substantive H2 productions were observed. Compare to pure BP and WS2, the solid enhancement (21 and 50 folds) of photocatalytic activity was achieved in the BP/WS2 hybrid. The mechanism has been investigated by photoelectrochemical measurements, electron reductive reaction analyses, and transient absorption spectroscopy. It is indicated that 2D BP/WS2 hybrid has great potential as a noble metal-free NIR-driven photocatalyst for solar energy conversion.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (163KB)Download full-size image