Constructing MAX dispersed Ni2P/TiO2 nanocomposite with investigating influential effect of parameters through design expert and kinetic study for photocatalytic H2 evolution

Well-designed Ni2P/TiO2 nanoparticles dispersed over 2D Ti3AlC2 MAX, were investigated for H2 evolu-tion with parameter optimization and kinetic modelling in a liquid phase slurry photoreactor. The highest H2 production rate of 1300 lmol was obtained over MAX dispersed Ni2P/TiO2 nanocomposite. The H2 production was observed to be 3.80 times more than the H2 generated by pristine TiO2, based on the inhibited charge recombination, improved visible light response, and good redox potential of TiO2. The sacrificial reagents, catalyst loading, and reaction time were optimized through the design of experiment (DoE). The results revealed 10.5 CH3OH concentration, 0.11 g loading, and a 3.59 h reaction time as the optimum conditions for maximum H2 generation. Finally, for investigating the adsorption behaviour, a modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism-based kinetic model was developed. According to the kinetic model, the lower CH3OH adsorption constant suggested low adsorption at lower concentra-tions, but the higher CH3OH value indicated more adsorption at higher reactant concentrations. Thus, structured photocatalysts with enhanced photoactivity and kinetic-model findings should help research-ers to comprehend photocatalytic reaction engineering properly for solar energy applications.(c) 2023 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan All rights reserved.