Violet phosphorus: an effective metal-free elemental photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

Violet phosphorus, a non-metallic elemental layered structure, has not been reported as a photocatalyst due to the lack of its resources. An excellent photocatalytic H₂ evolution rate of 675 ± 109 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ with high stability has been achieved by the violet phosphorus simply dispersed in deionized water with addition of 1.0 wt% of co-catalyst Pt, which is much higher than that obtained from black phosphorus. The H₂ evolution rate was observed to reach values as high as 553 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ with addition of 0.5 wt% co-catalyst Pt.