Dipole field as charge-transfer bridge between Cu atomic clusters/PtCu alloy nanocubes and nitrogen-rich C 3 N 5 for superior photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Utilizing spontaneous polarization field to harness charge transfer kinetics is a promising strategy to boost photocatalytic performance. Herein, a novel Cu atom clusters/PtCu alloy nanocubes coloaded on nitrogen-rich triazole-based C ₃ N ₅ (PtCu-C ₃ N ₅ ) with dipole field was constructed through facile photo-deposition and impregnation method. The dipole field-drive spontaneous polarization in C ₃ N ₅ acts as a charge-transfer bridge to promote directional electron migration from C ₃ N ₅ to Cu atom clusters/PtCu alloy. Through the synergistic effects between Cu atom clusters, PtCu alloy and dipole field in C ₃ N ₅ , the optimized Pt ₂ Cu ₃ -C ₃ N ₅ achieved a record-high performance with H ₂ formation rate of 4090.4 μmol g ^-1  h ^-1 under visible light, about 154.4-fold increase compared with pristine C ₃ N ₅ (26.5 μmol g ^-1  h ^-1 ). Moreover, the apparent quantum efficiency was up to 25.33 % at 320 nm, which is greatly superior than most previous related-works. The directional charge transfer mechanism was analyzed in detail through various characterizations and DFT calculations. This work offers a novel pathway to construct high-efficiency multi-metal photocatalysts for solar energy conversion.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)