Visible-light-driven H production and decomposition of 4-nitrophenol over nickel phosphides.

Photocatalytic H production and photocatalytic decomposition are efficient and economical methods to obtain hydrogen fuel and dispose of organic pollutants. In this paper, amorphous nickel phosphide (NiP) is synthesized by an extremely simple precipitation method under low temperature. The prepared nickel phosphide was not only used to produce H in the presence of Eosin Y as sensitizer and triethanolamine (TEOA) as a sacrificial electron donor but also to degrade 4-nitrophenol under visible light illumination. The rate of hydrogen evolution is 34.0 μmol h g and the degradation efficiency is 25.5% within 4 h at initial 5.0 mg L 4-nitrophenol. Probable photocatalytic mechanisms were discussed. The present work is expected to contribute toward the hydrogen evolution and disposal of highly toxic pollutants by cost-effective photocatalytic means.