Efficient H<sub>2</sub> Production from Biomass-Based HCO<sub>2</sub>H by Cooperation of Quantum Dots Photocatalysts with Weak HCHO Adsorption and In Situ Generated Ni<sup>0</sup>
Wen-Ting Niu, Wanghui Zhao, Kaiwen Feng, Fu-Jia Tang, Tao Wang, Kaixuan Wang, Shaohua Shen, Yang Li
Abstract
Efficient hydrogen (H 2 ) production from renewable resources, such as biomass, one of the largest renewable resources on the earth, instead of fossil resources, is highly desirable. Making it via HCO 2 H as an intermediate for H 2 production from biomass both facilitates efficient H 2 production and can avoid the issues of H 2 storage. Herein, we report efficient H 2 production from raw biomass-based formic acid (HCO 2 H) by a noble-metal-free catalysis system under mild conditions, enabled by cooperation of CdS/ZnS-S 2– quantum dots photocatalysts with weak formaldehyde (HCHO) adsorption and in situ generated Ni 0, resulting in H 2 with a 94% yield in 3.5 h, with a 99.7% selectivity and a 537 ± 14 mol mg –1 h –1 average rate at 50 °C under visible-light irradiation. This study should promote the exploration of catalytic systems for streamlined H 2 production from renewable biomass for practical application.