Enhanced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via cubic CeO2 hybridized g-C3N4 composite

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Vol. 218; pp. 51 - 59
• Main Authors: Zou, Weixin, Shao, Ye, Pu, Yu, Luo, Yidan, Sun, Jingfang, Ma, Kaili, Tang, Changjin, Gao, Fei, Dong, Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 05.12.2017
• Subjects: Cubic CeO2 {100}; g-C3N4; Interfacial interaction; Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; g-C3N4; Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; Cubic CeO2 {100}; Interfacial interaction
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.03.085

[Display omitted] •Nanocubic CeO2 {100} plane hybridized g-C3N4 composites were synthesized.•cCN5 had superior photocatalytic performance, for advantageous interfacial effects.•The interfacial effects of cCN catalysts were via hydrogen bond and p-π hybrid.•The possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. In this work, CeO2 nanocubes hybridized g-C3N4 composites had been facilely synthesized to investigate the interfacial effects on photocatalytic water splitting. The c-CeO2/g-C3N4 composites exhibited the superior photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation. The optimal c-CeO2 loading content was 5wt%, with the H2 evolution of 4300μmolg−1 for 5h illumination, higher than that of pristine CeO2, g-C3N4 and irregular CeO2 nanoparticles/g-C3N4. Moreover, UV–vis DRS, PL spectra and photoelectrochemical measurements demonstrated that 5wt% c-CeO2/g-C3N4 composite possessed more visible light adsorption and faster charge transfer, which was attributed to the stronger interfacial effects through the presence of the hydrogen bond and p-π hybrid between c-CeO2 {100} and g-C3N4, revealed by the FT-IR and XPS results. The work suggested that engineering the structures of the CeO2 and g-C3N4 interface could be an effective strategy to obtain excellent photocatalysts.