Hydrogen evolution via photocatalytic reforming of biomass with palladium nanoparticles decorated g-C3N4 nanosheets

Abstract

Fossil fuel depletion and environmental toxins have made photocatalytic H₂ production of paramount significance. A novel and unique technique for producing sustainable H₂ and valorizing biomass using infinite solar energy is biomass photoreformation. Nevertheless, this environmentally friendly method is usually linked to severe reaction circumstances, insufficient selectivity, and restricted biomass conversion. Here, we present a novel one-pot photoreformation technique over porous g-C₃N₄ nanosheets surface-modified with Pd nanoparticles to convert d-glucose to H₂. By stacking the g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst into a 2D nanosheet structure, some of its inherent drawbacks can be mitigated. Furthermore, the inclusion of noble metal nanoparticles in these g-C₃N₄ nanosheet structures could significantly boost existing photocatalytic activity. The majority of solar radiation is composed of visible light, which makes up 45% of it, and ultraviolet light, which makes up 5%. Therefore, our focus has been on utilizing abundant visible light to facilitate biomass reformation. After 4 h of continuous irradiation, our composite photocatalyst exhibited exceptional visible light activity; its H₂ evolution was 1839.84 μmolg⁻¹h⁻¹, or about 27 times higher than that of undoped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets. The effectiveness of three different Pd loadings on g-C₃N₄ nanosheets for glucose reforming was examined. In the quest for an improved H₂ evolution visible light active photocatalyst, g-C₃N₄ nanosheets made at various pyrolysis temperatures loaded with optimized Pd weight percentage were also examined.