Hydrogen production by visible light photocatalysis with Chl@g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx S-scheme heterojunction.

[Display omitted] • Organic heterojunction of Chl–g-C 3 N 4 was constructed for visible-light driven H 2 evolution. • Highly efficient electron-hole separation occurred through the organic heterojunction structure. • Chl@g-C 3 N 4 /MXene-based photocatalytic system were developed for noble metal-free HER. • This work provides directions for preparation of organic heterojunction structures suitable for HER. Sustainable conversion of solar energy to hydrogen energy by photocatalytic splitting of water through the use of semiconductor photocatalytic materials is considered to be a promising and sustainable alternative proposal to replace conventional fossil fuels. However, efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production has remained a great challenge due to the prevailing problems of existing semiconductor photocatalytic materials. It is shown that constructing heterostructures is a very powerful way to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production capacity of composites under visible light. Therefore, in this work, an organic heterojunction structure based on chlorophyll (Chl) molecules and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) is reported and exploited for efficient solar energy-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Meanwhile, noble metal-free photocatalysts were successfully constructed with Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets through a simple stepwise complexation process of Chl, g-C 3 N 4 , and Ti 3 C 2 T x for the achievement of HER for the photocatalytic decomposition of water. The results show that the optimal Chl@g-C 3 N 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x organic heterojunction composite has a remarkably advanced HER performance of 131 μmol/h/g cat , as compared with the traditional Chl@Ti 3 C 2 T x and g-C 3 N 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composites. The results provide new ideas for exploring MXene based catalysts for highly efficient conversion of solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]