2D/2D Ultrathin Co Nanosheets/CeVO₄ Nanobelts@PDA with a Strong Electronic Interaction and Broadband Light Harvesting for Efficient Photocatalytic H₂ Evolution from Ammonia Borane

The activity of supported photocatalysts closely depends on the number of exposed active sites, electronic interaction between active components and supports, and light harvesting capacity of catalysts. Herein, we report an effective approach to construct a photocatalyst Co/CeVO4 with abundant active sites and strong electronic interaction by regulating materials morphology and constructing a large 2D/2D contact interface, which is composed of ultrathin Co nanosheets and CeVO4 nanobelts, which shows greatly enhanced photocatalytic performance for H2 production from ammonia borane (NH3BH3). Furthermore, polydopamine (PDA) is introduced in the catalysts by forming a strong electronic interaction with CeVO4 nanobelts to broaden the light absorption range. Benefiting from the unique structure, the Co/CeVO4@PDA-37 exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity with a total turnover frequency value of 115.38 min–1. Structure characterizations indicate the excellent catalytic performance for Co/CeVO4@PDA caused by the strong electronic interaction between Co and CeVO4 due to special morphology and broadband light harvesting owing to the introduction of PDA. In addition, the activity of the catalyst remained almost unchanged after five cycles. Therefore, this work not only paves new avenues for the facile synthesis of photocatalysts with high catalytic performance but also provides the design for broadband light harvesting of photocatalysts for H2 evolution from NH3BH3.