Unveiling the potential of MXene-fabricated catalysts: an effective approach for H generation from water splitting.

Hydrogen has enough potential and can be successfully used as an alternative to the conventional fuel. It can be successfully produced from water that is not only a sustainable source but exists everywhere on earth. Additionally, its combustion releases water that is quite safe and environment friendly. The current project was designed to generate hydrogen from catalytic water splitting on TiO@TiCT catalysts. To obtain the required catalytic characteristics, titania was engineered on TiCT surfaces using an ethanol-assisted solvothermal approach. After careful recovery, the catalysts were characterized and assessed for the photoreaction. All photoreactions were performed in a quartz reactor (150 mL), where hydrogen evolution activities were monitored on GC-TCD (Shimadzu-JP). The comparative activities indicated that TiO@C and TiO@TiCT catalysts deliver 9.37 and 18.57 mmol g h of hydrogen, respectively. The higher activities of TiO@TiCT were attributed to the existence of higher active sites (charge trapping centres) on the multilayer MXene that progressively promote and facilitate redox reactions. Reason is that existence of titania on MXene interfaces develops heterojunctions that rectify the charge transfer; hence reduce the charge recombination (, back reaction). On the basis of encouraging activities, it has been concluded that the aforementioned approach holds promise to replace the costly and conventional hydrogen generation technologies.