Visible-light promoted hydrogen production by diesel soot derived onion like carbon nanoparticles

Visible-light-driven photocatalytic water splitting has always been considered a promising approach to hydrogen generation. The onion-like carbon nano particles (OCNPs) isolated from diesel engine exhaust soot have shown their strong capability towards the visible-light promoted hydrogen evolution via water splitting. Under visible light irradiation, the hydrogen evolution rate of OCNPs is similar to 1075 mu M h(-1) g(-1) which is quite comparable with the available literature without using any dopant materials or co-catalyst. The evolution of hydrogen using the OCNPs is due to the presence of numerous optically active centers and a high sp(3)/sp(2) interface on the surface of OCNPs, which promoted the process of visible-light assisted photocatalytic water splitting. These waste derived OCNPs can serve as high-performance photocatalytic materials for the visible light-to-hydrogen production and could contribute towards the goal to achieve clean energy.