Vincent Wing-hei Lau

Solar-Driven Reduction of Aqueous Protons Coupled to Selective Alcohol Oxidation with a Carbon Nitride–Molecular Ni Catalyst System

Solar water-splitting represents an important strategy toward production of the storable and renewable fuel hydrogen. The water oxidation half-reaction typically proceeds with poor efficiency and produces the unprofitable and often damaging product, O2. Herein, we demonstrate an alternative approach and couple solar H2 generation with value-added organic substrate oxidation. Solar irradiation of a cyanamide surface-functionalized melon-type carbon nitride (NCNCNx) and a molecular nickel(II) bis(diphosphine) H2-evolution catalyst (NiP) enabled the production of H2 with concomitant selective oxidation of benzylic alcohols to aldehydes in high yield under purely aqueous conditions, at room temperature and ambient pressure. This one-pot system maintained its activity over 24 h, generating products in 1:1 stoichiometry, separated in the gas and solution phases. The NCNCNx–NiP system showed an activity of 763 μmol (g CNx)−1 h–1 toward H2 and aldehyde production, a Ni-based turnover frequency of 76 h–1, and an external quantum efficiency of 15% (λ = 360 ± 10 nm). This precious metal-free and nontoxic photocatalytic system displays better performance than an analogous system containing platinum instead of NiP. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed that the photoactivity of NCNCNx is due to efficient substrate oxidation of the material, which outweighs possible charge recombination compared to the nonfunctionalized melon-type carbon nitride. Photoexcited NCNCNx in the presence of an organic substrate can accumulate ultralong-lived “trapped electrons”, which allow for fuel generation in the dark. The artificial photosynthetic system thereby catalyzes a closed redox cycle showing 100% atom economy and generates two value-added products, a solar chemical, and solar fuel.

Dark Photocatalysis: Storage of Solar Energy in Carbon Nitride for Time-Delayed Hydrogen Generation

Abstract While natural photosynthesis serves as the model system for efficient charge separation and decoupling of redox reactions, bio‐inspired artificial systems typically lack applicability owing to synthetic challenges and structural complexity. We present herein a simple and inexpensive system that, under solar irradiation, forms highly reductive radicals in the presence of an electron donor, with lifetimes exceeding the diurnal cycle. This radical species is formed within a cyanamide‐functionalized polymeric network of heptazine units and can give off its trapped electrons in the dark to yield H2, triggered by a co‐catalyst, thus enabling the temporal decoupling of the light and dark reactions of photocatalytic hydrogen production through the radical′s longevity. The system introduced here thus demonstrates a new approach for storing sunlight as long‐lived radicals, and provides the structural basis for designing photocatalysts with long‐lived photo‐induced states.

Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production using Polymeric Carbon Nitride with a Hydrogenase and a Bioinspired Synthetic Ni Catalyst

Solar-light-driven H2 production in water with a [NiFeSe]-hydrogenase (H2ase) and a bioinspired synthetic nickel catalyst (NiP) in combination with a heptazine carbon nitride polymer, melon (CNx), is reported. The semibiological and purely synthetic systems show catalytic activity during solar light irradiation with turnover numbers (TONs) of more than 50 000 mol H2 (mol H2ase)−1 and approximately 155 mol H2 (mol NiP)−1 in redox-mediator-free aqueous solution at pH 6 and 4.5, respectively. Both systems maintained a reduced photoactivity under UV-free solar light irradiation (λ>420 nm).

Cationically Charged MnIIAlIII LDH Nanosheets by Chemical Exfoliation and Their Use As Building Blocks in Graphene Oxide-Based Materials

We report on the synthesis and exfoliation of Mn(II)Al(III) sulfonate and sulfate layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their combination with graphene oxide by charge-directed self-assembly. The synthesis of the LDH compounds has been accomplished either directly by coprecipitation of the respective hydroxides with sulfonate anions or by ion-exchange of the chloride-containing LDH with sodium dodecylsulfate. Exfoliation of the bulk material in formamide yields colloidal suspensions of positively charged nanosheets with lateral dimensions of tens to hundreds of nanometers and thicknesses down to 1.3 nm, ascertained by TEM and AFM. Flocculation of the LDH nanosheets with an aqueous graphene oxide suspension yields a hybrid material that can be converted to a reduced graphene oxide/LDH composite by hydrazine reduction. The hybrid materials were tested for pseudocapacitive electrochemical storage capacity and electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reactions and showed significant increases compared to the pristine materials.

Homonuclear Mixed‐Valent Cobalt Imidazolate Framework for Oxygen‐Evolution Electrocatalysis

Herein, the synthesis and characterization of the first mixed-valent, purely cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework, Co(II)3Co(III)2(C3H3N2)12 is presented. The material adopts the cubic garnet-type structure and combines high thermal stability of up to 350 °C with excellent chemical stability. Electrochemical characterization showed that the cobalt centres are redox active and efficiently support oxygen evolution, thus rendering this framework a potential candidate for single-site heterogeneous catalysis based on earth-abundant elements.