Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via SiC loaded CeO2 nanofiber composite

CeO2 is a significant material in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions due to the high creating ability of oxygen vacancies, high chemical stability and excellent redox properties. However, the wide band gap of CeO2 limits the visible light absorption. In this study, SiC loaded to CeO2 nanofiber catalyst by electrospinning methods to improve the light absorption efficiency and increase the active surface area result in enhanced photocatalytic performance. In the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions medium, which contain eosin Y dye and triethanolamine as a photosensitizer and an electron donor, respectively. The addition of SiC to CeO2 improve the visible light absorption rate, electron transfer efficiency. The hydrogen production rate of CeO2/SiC nanofiber catalyst reaches to 5208 μmol g−1 under visible light irradiation, it is approximately 13- and 2-times higher than SiC and CeO2 nanofiber, respectively. Furthermore, CeO2/SiC nanofiber catalyst maintain more than half of it is photocatalytic activity after 3 cycles of reactions. Therefore, the CeO2/SiC nanofiber catalyst will provide innovative approaches to achieve efficient photocatalytic water splitting in the future, enabling the development of catalytic studies.