Mesoporous Carbon Nitride-Tungsten Oxide Composites for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

• Published in: ChemSusChem Vol. 8; no. 8; pp. 1404 - 1410
• Main Authors: Kailasam, Kamalakannan, Fischer, Anna, Zhang, Guigang, Zhang, Jinshui, Schwarze, Michael, Schröder, Marc, Wang, Xinchen, Schomäcker, Reinhard, Thomas, Arne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 24.04.2015; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Carbon; Catalysis; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; graphitic carbon nitrides; Hydrogen - chemistry; hydrogen evolution; mesoporosity; Nitriles - chemistry; Oxides - chemistry; Photocatalysis; Photochemical Processes; Porosity; Solar energy; Tungsten - chemistry; tungsten oxide; z-scheme; tungsten oxide; z-scheme; hydrogen evolution; mesoporosity; graphitic carbon nitrides
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201403278

Composites of mesoporous polymeric carbon nitride and tungsten(VI) oxide show very high photocatalytic activity for the evolution of hydrogen from water under visible light and in the presence of sacrificial electron donors. Already addition of very small amounts of WO3 yields up to a twofold increase in the efficiency when compared to bulk carbon nitrides and their composites and more notably even to the best reported mesoporous carbon nitride‐based photocatalytic materials. The higher activity can be attributed to the high surface area and synergetic effect of the carbon nitrides and the WO3 resulting in improved charge separation through a photocatalytic solid‐state Z‐scheme mechanism. CN/WO3 composites for enhanced H2 evolution: Mesoporous CN/WO3 composites prepared by a simple dispersion method are efficient photocatalysts for enhanced hydrogen production from water. Compared to other nonporous composites based on carbon nitrides, a twofold increase in activity is observed, which is attributed to the high surface area and efficient solid‐state Z‐scheme‐induced charge separation in these composites.