Photocatalytic water splitting of ternary graphene-like photocatalyst for the photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

•The MoS₂/SiC/GO composite has a strong photocatalytic activity than SiC.

•The optimal catalyst yielded the highest quantum of 21.69%.

•GO acts as a bridge for electron passage in photocatalytic reaction.

In recent times, therehas been an increasing demand for energy which has resulted in an increased consumption of fossil fuels thereby posing a number of challenges to the environment. In the course finding possible solutions to this environmental canker, solar photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogengas has been identified as one of the most promising methods for generating renewable energy. To retard the recombination of photogenerated carriers and improve the efficiencyof photocatalysis, the present paper reports a facile method called the hydrothermal method, which was used to prepare ternary graphene-like photocatalyst. A “Design Expert” was used to investigate the influence of the loading weight of Mo and GO as well as the temperature of hydrothermal reaction and their interactions on the evolution of hydrogen (H₂) in 4 h. The experimental results showed that the ternary graphene-like photocatalyst has a strong photocatalytic hydrogen production activity compared to that of pure SiC. In particular, the catalyst added 2.5 wt% of GO weight yielded the highest quantum of 21.69 % at 400–700 nm of wavelength. The optimal evolution H₂ in 4 h conditions wasobtained as follows: The loading weight of Mo was 8.19 wt%, the loading weight of GO was 2.02 wt%, the temperature of the hydrothermal reaction was 200.93°C. Under the optimum conditions, the evolution of H₂ in 4 h could reach 4.2030 mL.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Water splitting / Visible light / Graphene-like photocatalyst / Response surface methodology

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