Issue 10, 2020

Ti3C2Tx MXene decorated black phosphorus nanosheets with improved visible-light photocatalytic activity: experimental and theoretical studies

Abstract

Metal-free black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets have emerged as a promising photocatalyst. Herein, early transition-metal carbide and nitride (MXene) decorated BP (Ti3C2Tx/TiO2–BP) nanohybrids were constructed by a hydrothermal method, in which TiO2 was produced in the hydrothermal process. The optimized Ti3C2Tx/TiO2–BP nanohybrids exhibited a higher visible-light photodegradation efficiency of rhodamine B (99.09%) and tetracycline hydrochloride (92.70%) pollutants than that of pristine BP (12.75% and 9.35%, respectively). Diverse characterization techniques and density functional theory calculations have revealed that such enhanced photocatalytic performance was due to the synergistic effect of BP and Ti3C2Tx/TiO2, which could markedly improve the stability of BP, increase visible light absorption, prolong the photoexcited electron lifetime, accelerate the photoinduced electron transfer and hinder the electron–hole (e–h+) pair recombination. Meanwhile, the mechanism analysis indicated that ˙O2 radicals played a leading role in the photocatalytic process. This study will motivate great interest in using 2D MXenes as co-catalysts to enhance the activity of BP for its applications.

Graphical abstract: Ti3C2Tx MXene decorated black phosphorus nanosheets with improved visible-light photocatalytic activity: experimental and theoretical studies

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Dec 2019
Accepted
01 Feb 2020
First published
03 Feb 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 5171-5185

Ti3C2Tx MXene decorated black phosphorus nanosheets with improved visible-light photocatalytic activity: experimental and theoretical studies

B. Shao, J. Wang, Z. Liu, G. Zeng, L. Tang, Q. Liang, Q. He, T. Wu, Y. Liu and X. Yuan, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 5171 DOI: 10.1039/C9TA13610J

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