Harvesting Green Hydrogen by Self-Propelling Built-in Electric Field Photo/Electro-catalytic Performance of DyCrO₃ Nanoparticles Developed by Reverse Microemulsion Route

Herein, we demonstrate photocatalytic hydrogen generation and the role of sacrificial agents using multi-functional DyCrO₃ nanoparticles by virtue of built-in electric field (BIEF) which helps in increasing charge separation efficiency. DyCrO₃ nanoparticles synthesized by the low-cost reverse micellar approach showed high surface area (17.9 m²/g) and band-gap (2.01 eV) in visible region. Sacrificial agent assisted photocatalytic H₂ production of DyCrO₃ nanoparticles exhibited higher selectivity towards Na₂S/Na₂SO₃ by producing H₂ evolution of 347 μ (Figure presented.) and apparent quantum yield of 6.8% than ethylene glycol and triethanolamine, respectively. The oxygen defects (observed in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies) and BIEF both synergistically helped in enhancing photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the multifunctional competence of DyCrO₃ nanoparticles was observed in electrocatalytic water splitting. DyCrO₃ nanoparticles found to be active HER and OER electrocatalyst with low overpotential and great durability.