• 文献标题:   Combining photocatalytic hydrogen generation and capsule storage in graphene based sandwich structures
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   YANG L, LI XY, ZHANG GZ, CUI P, WANG XJ, JIANG X, ZHAO J, LUO Y, JIANG J
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
  • ISSN:   2041-1723
  • 通讯作者地址:   Univ Sci Technol China
  • 被引频次:   35
  • DOI:   10.1038/ncomms16049
  • 出版年:   2017

▎ 摘  要

The challenge of safe hydrogen storage has limited the practical application of solar-driven photocatalytic water splitting. It is hard to isolate hydrogen from oxygen products during water splitting to avoid unwanted reverse reaction or explosion. Here we propose a multi-layer structure where a carbon nitride is sandwiched between two graphene sheets modified by different functional groups. First-principles simulations demonstrate that such a system can harvest light and deliver photo-generated holes to the outer graphene-based sheets for water splitting and proton generation. Driven by electrostatic attraction, protons penetrate through graphene to react with electrons on the inner carbon nitride to generate hydrogen molecule. The produced hydrogen is completely isolated and stored with a high-density level within the sandwich, as no molecules could migrate through graphene. The ability of integrating photocatalytic hydrogen generation and safe capsule storage has made the sandwich system an exciting candidate for realistic solar and hydrogen energy utilization.