Ultrathin Ru-CdIn2S4 nanosheets for simultaneous photocatalytic green hydrogen production and selective oxidation of furfuryl alcohol to furfural

Abstract

Biomass is an important sustainable carbon source and converting biomass intermediates into value-added chemicals/fuels using a green technology is a promising sustainable pathway. Dual functional photocatalysis can be used to “hit two birds with one stone” via the simultaneous production of H2 and valorisation of the biomass intermediates. CdIn2S4 (CIS), is an exciting photocatalytic material because of its high visible light harvesting capacity. Herein, ultrathin CIS nanosheets were fabricated via a solvothermal method with in situ deposition of Ru (Ru-CIS). The photocatalytic performance of Ru-CIS toward the selective oxidation of furfuryl alcohol (FOH, a biomass intermediate), to a value-added product (Furfural, FCHO) with concurrent generation of hydrogen was investigated. Ru incorporation resulted in up to 50-fold enhancement in hydrogen production rate and higher FOH to FCHO conversion% and selectivity%. This enhancement was attributed to the enhanced charge separation due to the incorporated Ru species as supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.