Building a Co─NC─V electron highway for photoinduced charge separation and hydrogen evolution at the Ni-Co PBAs/V2C MXene interface

Constructing a Co─N C─V covalent bridge as an electron highway. • Achieving ultrafast charge separation and 5 times higher hydrogen evolution. • Integrating Schottky junction and molecular wire for directed charge flow. We introduce an “electron highway” concept to overcome stochastic charge loss in heterojunctions, realized by a Co─N C─V covalent bridge at the Ni‑Co PBA/V 2 C MXene interface. This molecular‑scale wiring, combined with a Schottky contact, creates a directed and atomically precise charge transfer pathway from the photoactive PBA to the conductive MXene. The resultant photocatalyst shows a remarkable H₂ production of 13697 μmol h −1 g −1 under visible light, a 5‑fold increase, enabled by picosecond‑scale electron injection and minimized recombination, as evidenced by in‑situ XPS and TRPL. The robust interfacial bond ensures sustained activity over 25 h cycling. This work provides a generalizable, molecular‑scale strategy for designing high‑efficiency interfaces for photocatalysis and beyond. Download: Download high-res image (241KB) Download: Download full-size image