Highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production of platinum nanoparticle-decorated SiC nanowires under simulated sunlight irradiation

Photocatalytic water splitting reaction of platinum nanoparticle-decorated SiC nanowire photocatalyst was investigated under the simulated sunlight irradiation. The Pt/SiC catalyst shows an enhanced photocatalytic activity for water splitting, and its average H2 evolution rate has been up to 4572 μL g−1 h−1. The average H2 production rate over the Pt/SiC catalyst is 88% higher than that of SiC nanowires without Pt nanoparticle-decoration. The XPS spectra exhibit that the surrounding electrons of C atoms can be rapidly transferred to Si and Pt active sites for water splitting. The photoluminescence spectra show that the platinum acts as an acceptor of photoelectrons to effectively restrain the electron–hole pair recombination of SiC nanowires. The novel Pt/SiC has great potential of being a low-cost, environmentally friendly solar-hydrogen production photocatalyst.