Light-assisted hydrogen production by sodium borohydride hydrolysis in a Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>-Bi(OH)<sub>3</sub>-BiOCl heterogeneous solid system

Kaskun Ergani S., KARİPER İ. A.

CHEMICAL PAPERS, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11696-026-05644-1
  • Dergi Adı: CHEMICAL PAPERS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Aerospace Database, Chemical Abstracts Core, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In this study, a novel Bi2Se3-Bi(OH)3-BiOCl multiphase heterogeneous solid powder mixture was tested for hydrogen production via sodium borohydride (NaBH4) hydrolysis. Structural and morphological characterizations of the heterogeneous mixture were performed using XRD, SEM, and EDX analyses. The obtained catalysis experimental results showed that the synthesized system exhibited significant activity both in the dark and under light. In fact, based on the difference in hydrogen production compared to the absence of a catalyst, it was discovered that the catalyst provided a very large increase in the hydrogen production rate, while the application of light contributed to accelerating hydrogen formation. The results indicate that hydrogen production increases and the system exhibits light-assisted catalytic hydrolysis behavior when the nominal power of the halogen lamp is increased from 10 to 40 W. The results obtained from this study indicate that the Bi2Se3-Bi(OH)3-BiOCl solid system exhibits catalytic activity in NaBH4 hydrolysis and that light application enhances hydrogen production. Since composite mixtures such as BiOCl-Bi2Se3, BiOCl-Bi(OH)3, and Bi2Se3-Bi(OH)3 were not prepared separately in the study, the contribution of each phase to hydrogen production was not determined individually. Therefore, the nature of the interaction among these phases could not be demonstrated directly through experimental means. As certain analyses such as XPS and UPS were not performed, charge transfer between the phases was not experimentally proven either. The proposed mechanism is based on the XRD, STEM, EDX, and catalytic results obtained from the study, as well as the properties of BiOCl, Bi2Se3, and Bi(OH)3 phases reported in the literature. In conclusion, the Bi2Se3-Bi(OH)3-BiOCl polyphase heterogeneous solid system demonstrated catalytic activity in hydrogen production via NaBH4 hydrolysis without the use of precious metals. This study shows that a polyphase semiconductor system prepared by co-precipitation can be used in light-assisted hydrogen production.