Engineering highly active Ag/Nb2O5@Nb2CTx (MXene) photocatalysts via steering charge kinetics strategy

Steering charge kinetics is one of the most urgent unsolved issues in photocatalysis. The effective spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs is particularly important in the design and controllable preparation of nano-photocatalysts. Herein, one-dimensional Nb 2 O 5 nanorod arrays with [0   0   1] orientation were grown in-situ on two-dimensional Nb 2 CT x MXenes through a facile hydrothermal method for the first time. Ag nanoparticles were then photodeposited on the Nb 2 O 5 nanorods to form hierarchical 0D/1D/2D nanohybrids. It was experimentally demonstrated that OH is predominantly adsorbed on Nb 2 CT x as termination groups, which resulted in a low work function (2.7 eV). Thanks to the unique structure, the highly active [0   0   1] Nb 2 O 5 nanorods afford high-efficiency photogeneration of electron-hole pairs, while the low-work-function OH terminated Nb 2 CT x allows for trapping holes, and Ag nanoparticles act as electron reservoir and sites of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The ternary Ag/Nb 2 O 5 @Nb 2 CT x nanohybrids reached a record HER activity (682.2 and 824.2 μmol·g -1 h −1 use methanol and glycerol as sacrificial agents, respectively) among the niobium-based photocatalysts, demonstrating the potential of MXenes as a platform for the synthesis of high-performance heterojunction structures, where the tunable electronic property is a key factor.