Sunlight driven Eu2O3/CoNiZn-LDH@g-C3N4 ternary heterojunction nanocomposite photocatalyst for hydrogen generation

Madappa C. Maridevaru, Faisal Al Marzouqi, Munnelli Nagaveni, Murikinati Mamatha Kumari, Muthukonda Venkatakrishnan Shankar and Rengaraj Selvaraj

Renewable Energy, 2025, vol. 246, issue C

Abstract: Photocatalytic H2 generation is a prospective and ecologically suitable way of manufacturing green hydrogen (H2). However, finding the best semiconducting substances with considerable performance is not easy. Inspired by this problem, we suggest in this work the use of a simple impregnation method for the customized sunlight-activated configurable broad-band gap semiconductor by coupling graphitic carbon nitride (CN) with Eu2O3/CoNiZn-LDH (LDH). Herein demonstrated the LDH loading on g-C3N4 surface impacted photocatalytic function by examining the hybrid ternary nanocomposites' microscopic, spectroscopic, and photophysical properties. Under sunlight, 60 wt% of Eu2O3/CoNiZn-LDH@g-C3N4 (60-LDHCN) nanocomposite exhibited highest rate of H2 production (168.5 μmol h−1g−1cat) explained by both density of catalytic active sites and intimate interface between different components of the catalyst facilitated effective separation/utilization of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. This correspondingly led to a 4.7-fold and 3.2-fold increase in H2 generating efficiency of compared to CN (36.2 μmol h−1g−1cat) and LDH (51.25 μmol h−1g−1cat). Evidently, the photocurrent concentration of the 60-LDHCN nanocomposite depicted around 14.3 and 6.1 times better photocurrent than that of CN and LDH, respectively. The essential component of Type-II heterojunctions' immediate interaction between the semiconductors promoted charge separation and enhanced the number of surface-active sites through the absorption of sunlight.

Keywords: Eu2O3/CoNiZn-LDH; G-C3N4; Hydrothermal process; Impregnation process: green hydrogen; Photocatalyst; Type-II heterostructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:246:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125005798

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.122917

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