Atomically precise Ni₆(SC₂H₄Ph)₁₂ nanoclusters on graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for boosting photocatalytic...

Much effort has been devoted to improving the photocatalytic capacity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄). In this paper, we reported the successful synthesis of a hybrid photocatalyst with superb photocatalytic hydrogen production activity through decorating atomically precise Ni₆(SC₂H₄Ph)₁₂ nanoclusters on g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (labeled as Ni₆/g-C₃N₄) at room temperature. Zeta potential experiments demonstrated that the electrostatic interaction between Ni₆ and g-C₃N₄ led to the formation of Ni₆/g-C₃N₄. The photocatalytic measurements revealed that the 5 %-Ni₆/g-C₃N₄ prepared with the original mass ratio of m(Ni₆)/m(g-C₃N₄) = 1/20 exhibited the strongest hydrogen production activity. In the system with triethanolamine (TEOA) as the sacrifice agent, the visible-light hydrogen production rate reached up to 5.87 mmol h^-1 g^-1, approximately 290 times higher than that of pure g-C₃N₄ (0.02 mmol h^-1 g^-1). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations testified that the above significant enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of the hybrid photocatalyst arose from the photogenerated electrons transfer from Ni₆ to g-C₃N₄.