Surface‐Degenerate Semiconductor Photocatalysis for Efficient Water Splitting without Sacrificial Agents via a Reticular Chemistry Approach

Abstract

AbstractThe production of green hydrogen through photocatalytic water splitting is crucial for a sustainable hydrogen economy and chemical manufacturing. However, current approaches suffer from slow hydrogen production (<70 μmol ⋅ gcat−1 ⋅ h−1) due to the sluggish four‐electrons oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and limited catalyst activity. Herein, we achieve efficient photocatalytic water splitting by exploiting a multifunctional interface between a nano‐photocatalyst and metal–organic framework (MOF) layer. The functional interface plays two critical roles: (1) enriching electron density directly on photocatalyst surface to promote catalytic activity, and (2) delocalizing photogenerated holes into MOF to enhance OER. Our photocatalytic ensemble boosts hydrogen evolution by ≈100‐fold over pristine photocatalyst and concurrently produces oxygen at ideal stoichiometric ratio, even without using sacrificial agents. Notably, this unique design attains superior hydrogen production (519 μmol ⋅ gcat−1 ⋅ h−1) and apparent quantum efficiency up to 13‐fold and 8‐fold better than emerging photocatalytic designs utilizing hole scavengers. Comprehensive investigations underscore the vital role of the interfacial design in generating high‐energy photoelectrons on surface‐degenerate photocatalyst to thermodynamically drive hydrogen evolution, while leveraging the nanoporous MOF scaffold as an effective photohole sink to enhance OER. Our interfacial approach creates vast opportunities for designing next‐generation, multifunctional photocatalytic ensembles using reticular chemistry with diverse energy and environmental applications.