Fe2S2 nano-clusters catalyze water splitting by removing formed oxygen using aid of an artificial gill under visible light

•Butterfly Fe2S2 cluster catalyst were prepared.•Fe2S2 photocatalyst exhibited low onset potential about 30 mV for H2 generation.•Fabricated an artificial gill, Fe2S2 composite (AG-NFG) photocatalytic system.•It performed significant enhanced activity for H2 evolution from pure water.

Natural photosynthetic systems use enzymes to split water, such as [FeFe]-hydrogenases with an active center consisting of a butterfly Fe2S2 cluster. Developing of artificial catalyst with similar active center structure and functions is still one of main objectives in photocatalyst study for energy storage and conversion. In the present study, we prepared Fe2S2 nanocluster with doped Ni which possess similar active center to the center in [FeFe]-hydrogenases (the similar FeFe bond length (2.60 Å), FeSFe bond angle and mössbauer effect) for water splitting. Electrochemical measurements showed that the catalyst exhibited low onset potential about 30 mV and overpotential of ∼0.12 V at 10 mA/cm2 for hydrogen generation. Besides, by fabricated an artificial gill, Ni-doped Fe2S2 composite (AG-NFG) photocatalytic system performed significant enhanced activity for H2 generation from pure water under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm) without the use of sacrificial reagents.

Graphical abstractWe prepared Fe2S2 nanocluster with doped Ni which possess similar active center to the center in [FeFe]-hydrogenases (the similar FeFe bond length (2.60 Å), FeSFe bond angle and mössbauer effect) for water splitting. Electrochemical measurements showed that the catalyst exhibited low onset potential about 30 mV and overpotential of ∼0.12 V at 10 mA/cm2 for hydrogen generation. Besides, by fabricated an artificial gill, Fe2S2 composite (AG-NFG) photocatalytic system performed significant enhanced activity for H2 generation from pure water under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm) without the use of sacrificial reagents.Download high-res image (110KB)Download full-size image