Design and Synthesis of MXene-Based 3D Porous Heterostructure Composites for Enhanced Photocatalytic Ammonia Production Under Ambient Conditions for Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Storage

While hydrogen is an excellent green energy carrier, which holds tremendous potential as a sustainable, environmentally friendly, efficient, and clean energy alternative, its storage remains costly, energy-intensive, and hazardous. Recently, the possibility of chemical storage of H2 in the form of ammonia (NH3) is receiving increasing attention.

However, despite the potential of NH3 for hydrogen storage the existing fossil fuel-based NH3 production technology is highly energy intensive and costly.

Photocatalytic NH3 synthesis is gaining familiarity as it is environmentally benign and sustainable, however, the conventional photocatalysts suffer from low NH3 yield, poor photocatalyst operational stability, and low solar-to-chemical conversion efficiencies, thus it is the current scientific challenge to design an efficient photocatalyst to convert atmospheric N2 to NH3.

Hence, the design and construction of novel hybrid photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic performance is vital for efficient synthesis of ammonia as a hydrogen energy storage medium.

In recent years, the two-dimensional transition metal carbides, carbonitrides and nitrides ( MXenes), are gaining popularity for photocatalytic N2 reduction owing to their diverse elemental compositions, large surface area, light-harvesting ability, and capability to host a broad range of intercalants.

Besides heterojunction formation by combination of MXenes with 3D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and other novel photocatalysts such as MetalOrganic Frameworks, Z-scheme photocatalysts would significantly increase photocatalytic performance of the hybrid by combining the merits of each component.

Besides the interconnected structure of 3D rGO framework possesses a macroscopic porous structure, for efficient incorporation of semiconductor nanoparticles in the 3D structure.

Thus, the current studydesigns and fabricates innovative 3D MXene-based hybrid photocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic synthesis of NH3