One-pot in-situ hydrothermal synthesis of ternary In₂S₃/Nb₂O₅/Nb₂C Schottky/S-scheme integrated heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

MXene-derived photocatalysts continue to fascinate the research community in developing photo-driven green and sustainable fuel production. However, the efficiency of MXene-derived photocatalyst is still low due to the wide bandgap and high recombination rate of photo-excited charge carriers. Here, we have synthesized the Nb₂C MXene-derived ternary photocatalyst via one-pot in-situ hydrothermal method for photocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) evolution. The partial oxidation of Nb₂C MXene into Nb₂O₅ nanorods and coupling with In₂S₃ nanoparticles via in-situ chemical anchoring were the key factors toward high efficiency and long-term stability during photocatalytic H₂ evolution. The optimized ternary photocatalyst composite manifested the highest H₂ evolution efficiency at 68.8 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which was 11 and 7.5 times higher than the Nb₂O₅/Nb₂C (NNC) and pure In₂S₃ photocatalyst, respectively. Moreover, the photocatalytic stability of the optimized ternary photocatalyst composite was analyzed for five consecutive cycles, and above 87% activity retention was observed even after the fifth cycle without any obvious decline. The separation efficiency of photoexcited charge carriers could be attributed to the synergic effect of the In₂S₃/Nb₂O₅ heterojunction and the redox reactions at different sites of the composite. More importantly, the participation of Schottky junction and S-scheme heterojunction charge transfer for the obtained novel ternary photocatalyst was evaluated via ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). This research will provide additional insight into the extended potential of MXene-derived ternary photocatalysts towards efficient H₂ production to meet future global energy demands.