High carrier separation efficiency for a defective g-C3N4 with polarization effect and defect engineering: mechanism, properties and prospects

As a green, visible-light-driven metal-free semiconductor material, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has generated tremendous significance in the fields of environmental purification and energy conversion. Inducing a polarization effect by creating defects in g-C3N4 is a promising strategy for impr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCatalysis science & technology Vol. 11; no. 16; pp. 5432 - 5447
Main Authors Bai, Xiaojuan, Jia, Tianqi, Wang, Xuyu, Hou, Shanshan, Hao, Derek, Bingjie-Ni
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 21.08.2021
Subjects
Carbon nitride
Current carriers
Defects
Electric fields
Energy conversion
Heterostructures
Photocatalysis
Photocatalysts
Polarization
Semiconductor materials
Separation
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Summary:As a green, visible-light-driven metal-free semiconductor material, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has generated tremendous significance in the fields of environmental purification and energy conversion. Inducing a polarization effect by creating defects in g-C3N4 is a promising strategy for improving photocatalytic properties. The polarization effect in photocatalysts could be created by manufacturing vacancies, doping impurity atoms, constructing heterostructure, etc. Recently, defective g-C3N4 has attracted wide attention due to its remarkable performance in the separation and migration of photogenerated charge carriers. However, the relationship between defects and the polarization effect remains to be clarified in terms of improving the photocatalytic performance. In this minireview, we summarize the recent advances on how the polarization effect and defect engineering expedite the photogenerated carrier migration and separation to improve the photocatalytic properties of g-C3N4. Is it pure synergy or is there some degree of antagonism? Ultimately, the major challenges for simply constructing the polarization effect and internal electric field in g-C3N4 and inspiring perspectives for future opportunities in polarization-defect type photocatalysis are discussed. It is believed that this work can provide a new idea for the design of novel and efficient photocatalysts in the future.
ISSN:2044-4753
2044-4761
DOI:10.1039/d1cy00595b