Highly Efficient Photothermal Difunctional Catalysts To Enhance Ammonia Borane Hydrolysis for Hydrogen Evolution

In this study, beta-SiC NWs, Ru/beta-SiC NWs, Cu/beta-SiC NWs, and RuCu/beta-SiC NWs were prepared to investigate photothermal synergistic catalytic AB hydrolysis to produce hydrogen. The experimental and theoretical calculation results show the band gap values of prepared beta-SiC NWs, Cu/beta-SiC NWs, Ru/beta-SiC NWs, and RuCu/beta-SiC NWs are 2.36, 1.9S, 1.71, and 1.49 eV, respectively. The Ru, Cu nanocluster deposited on beta-SiC NWs is conducive to promote the separation and transport of photoinduced electron and hole pairs and increase the transition probability of photoinduced electrons. The transition metal catalyst Cu/beta-SiC NWs modified with Ru dopant is beneficial to improve its catalytic activity; with the increase of blending ratio Ru/Cu, the catalytic activity increases gradually; when the mass ratio of Cu:Ru is 2:3, the catalyst Cu0.4Ru0.6/beta-SiC NWs have the highest catalytic performance and fairly good reusability in catalyzing AB hydrolysis, which is much better than the catalytic performance of catalyst Cu/beta-SiC NWs and comparable to Ru/beta-SiC NWs. In the RuCu alloy nanoclusters of RuCu/beta-SiC NWs, the electron conveyed from the Cu atom to the Ru atom and forms the of heterojunction Ru--Cu+ species, which further enhance the photothermal synergic catalytic performance of AB hydrolysis catalyzed by the RuCu/beta-SiC NWs. The property of bimetallic synergy is of great significance in improving catalyst activity and reducing catalyst cost.