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Nickel complexes as catalysts for the light-driven production of hydrogen from aqueous solutions

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Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production with earth-abundant metal complexes as the catalysts becomes one of most effective pathways to solve the problems of energy shortage and environmental pollution. Here, two Ni(II) complexes of Ni(qbz)(hqt)2 (qbz = 2-quinoline benzimidazole, hqt = 8-quinolinethio) (complex 1) and Ni(qbo)(hqt)2 (qbo = 2-quinoline benzothiazole) (complex 2) were synthesized and their performances for H2 generation were explored. A stable reaction system was established with triethanolamine as sacrificial electron donor and fluorescein (Fl) as the photosensitizer. Complex 2 has good hydrogen-production performance, over 25 mg of which 1250 μmol of H2 can be released after irradiation for 3 h under optimal conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) was adopted to unveil the relationship between active site and performance of nickel catalyst, and the hydrogen-production performance of catalysts can be predicted preliminarily by DFT. Meanwhile, the mechanism for H2 generation was discussed by theory and experiment. This work provides a way of experiment combining theory to find excellent catalysts with less time and energy.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This work thanks for the supports of the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21671004) and the Outstanding Youth Funding of Anhui Province (Grant No. 1908085J10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, 232001, People’s Republic of China

    Qingqing Miao & Jinsong Hu

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  1. Qingqing Miao
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  2. Jinsong Hu
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QM: implemented the research scheme and wrote the manuscript. JH: reviewed and edited the article.

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Correspondence to Jinsong Hu.

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Miao, Q., Hu, J. Nickel complexes as catalysts for the light-driven production of hydrogen from aqueous solutions. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2156 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11496-2

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