Hydrogen production with ultrahigh efficiency under visible light by graphene well-wrapped UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons

Abstract

An efficient catalytic system and surface modification are considered as two important routes for the enhancement of MOF-based photocatalytic properties. Herein, we report a significant improvement in hydrogen production efficiency with MOFs achieved through both the abovementioned routes. With the newly developed highly efficient TEOA–ErB system, H₂ generation rate on UiO-66-NH₂ octahedrons could amount to 21.2 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. Then, based on this system, the interaction of the UiO-66-NH₂ surface with graphene was judiciously controlled. The prepared graphene well-wrapped UiO-66-NH₂ octahedrons, in which every face was in contact with graphene, led to the highest H₂ production efficiency of 41.4 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. These findings suggest that MOFs could potentially evolve into highly efficient photocatalysts when incorporated into a proper system and further revealed that modifications on the surface of MOFs might result in a better inhibition of electron–hole recombination in H₂ generation.