Nitrogen vacancy induced in situ g-C3N4 p-n homojunction for boosting visible light-driven hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 587; pp. 110 - 120
• Main Authors: Liao, Yuwei, Wang, Guohong, Wang, Juan, Wang, Kai, Yan, Suding, Su, Yaorong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.04.2021
• Subjects: carbon nitride; energy conversion; graphene; Graphitic carbon nitride; H2 evolution; hydrogen production; light; nitrogen; Nitrogen-vacancy; p-n homojunction; Photocatalysis; photocatalysts; surface area; transportation; H2 evolution; p-n homojunction; Photocatalysis; Nitrogen-vacancy; Graphitic carbon nitride
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.009

[Display omitted] Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as a novel photocatalyst with great potentials has been extensively employed in solar-driven energy conversion. Herein, the novel in situ g-C3N4 p-n homojunction photocatalyst with nitrogen vacancies (NV-g-C3N4) is successfully fabricated via hydrothermal synthesis followed by two-step calcination. The in situ NV-g-C3N4 homojunction can be employed as an effective photocatalyst for hydrogen generation through water splitting under visible light, and the optimum rate constant of 3259.1 μmol.g−1.h−1 is achieved, which is 8.7 times as high as that of pristine g-C3N4. Moreover, the markedly increased photocatalytic performance is ascribed to the enhanced light utilization, large specific surface area and unique nitrogen-vacated p-n homojunction structure, which provides more active sites and improves the separation of photo-excited electron-hole pairs. Besides, the underlying mechanism for efficient charge transportation and separation is also proposed. This work demonstrates that the remodeling of g-C3N4 p-n homojunction with nitrogen vacancies is a feasible way as highly efficient photocatalysts and might inspire some new strategies for energy and environmental applications.