Doping engineering is an effective strategy for graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)to improve its photocat-alytic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)performance.In this work,a novel nitrogen and sulfur co-doped g-C_(3...Doping engineering is an effective strategy for graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)to improve its photocat-alytic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)performance.In this work,a novel nitrogen and sulfur co-doped g-C3N4(N,S-g-C3N4)is elaborately designed on the basis of theoretical predictions of first-principle density functional theory(DFT).The calculated Gibbs free energy of adsorbed hydrogen(ΔGH∗)for N,S-g-C3N4 at the N-doping active sites is extremely close to zero(0.01 eV).Inspired by the theoretical predictions,the N,S-g-C3N4 is successfully fabricated through ammonia-rich pyrolysis synthesis strategy,in which ammonia is in-situ obtained by pyrolyzing melamine.Subsequent characterizations indicate that the N,S-g-C3N4 possesses high specific surface area,outstanding light utilization,good hydrophilicity,and efficient carrier transfer efficiency.Consequently,the N,S-g-C3N4 displays an extremely high H2 evolution rate of 8269.9μmol g−1 h−1,achieves an apparent quantum efficiency(AQE)of 3.24%,and also possesses outsatnding durability.Theoretical calculations further demonstrate that N and S dopants can not only introduce doping energy level to reduce the band gap,but also induce charge redistribution to facilitate hydrogen adsorption,thus promoting the photocatalytic HER process.Moreover,femtosecond transient absorption(fs-TA)spectroscopy further corroborates the efficient photogenerated carrier transport of N,S-g-C3N4.This research highlights a promising and reliable strategy to achieve superior photocatalytic activity,and exhibits significant guidance for precise designing high-efficiency photocatalysts.展开更多
Photocatalytic H2production from water splitting is a promising candidate for solving the increasing energy crisis and environmental issues.Herein we report a novel g-C3N4/Ag InxSyS-scheme heterojunctio...Photocatalytic H2production from water splitting is a promising candidate for solving the increasing energy crisis and environmental issues.Herein we report a novel g-C3N4/Ag InxSyS-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst for water splitting into stoichiometric H2and H2O2under visible light.The catalyst was prepared by depositing 3D bimetallic sulfide(Ag InxSy)nanotubes onto 2D g-C3N4nanosheets.Owing to the special 3D-on-2D configuration,the photogenerated carriers could be rapidly transferred and effectively separated through the abundant interfacial heterostructures to avoid recombination,and therefore excellent performance for visible light-driven water splitting could be obtained,with a 24-h H2evolution rate up to 237μmol g-1h-1.Furthermore,suitable band alignment enables simultaneous H2and H2O2production in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio.H2and H2O2were evolved on the conduction band of g-C3N4and on the valance band of Ag InxSy,respectively.The novel 3D-on-2D configuration for heterojunction construction proposed in this work provided alternative research ideas toward photocatalytic reaction.展开更多
Constructing step-scheme(S-scheme)heterojunctions has been confirmed as a promising strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of composite materials.In this work,a series of sulfur-doped g-C3N4(SCN)/TiO2 S-sc...Constructing step-scheme(S-scheme)heterojunctions has been confirmed as a promising strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of composite materials.In this work,a series of sulfur-doped g-C3N4(SCN)/TiO2 S-scheme photocatalysts were synthesized using electrospinning and calcination methods.The as-prepared SCN/TiO2 composites showed superior photocatalytic performance than pure TiO2 and SCN in the photocatalytic degradation of Congo Red(CR)aqueous solution.The significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity benefited not only from the 1D well-distributed nanostructure,but also from the S-scheme heterojunction.Furthermore,the XPS analyses and DFT calculations demonstrated that electrons were transferred from SCN to TiO2 across the interface of the SCN/TiO2 composites.The built-in electric field,band edge bending,and Coulomb interaction synergistically facilitated the recombination of relatively useless electrons and holes in hybrid when the interface was irradiated by simulated solar light.Therefore,the remaining electrons and holes with higher reducibility and oxidizability endowed the composite with supreme redox ability.These results were adequately verified by radical trapping experiments,ESR tests,and in situ XPS analyses,suggesting that the electron immigration in the photocatalyst followed the S-scheme heterojunction mechanism.This work can enrich our knowledge of the design and fabrication of novel S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts and provide a promising strategy for solving environmental pollution in the future.展开更多
Converting sustainable solar energy into hydrogen energy over semiconductor-based photocatalytic materials provides an alternative to fossil fuel consumption.However,efficient photocatalytic splitting of water to real...Converting sustainable solar energy into hydrogen energy over semiconductor-based photocatalytic materials provides an alternative to fossil fuel consumption.However,efficient photocatalytic splitting of water to realize carbon-free hydrogen production remains a challenge.Heterojunction photocatalysts with well-defined dimensionality and perfectly matched interfaces are promising for achieving highly efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion.Herein,we report the fabrication of a novel type of protonated graphitic carbon nitride(PCN)/Ti3C2 MXene heterojunctions with strong interfacial interactions.As expected,the two-dimensional(2D)PCN/2D Ti3C2 MXene interface heterojunction achieves a highly improved hydrogen evolution rate(2181μmol∙g‒1)in comparison with bulk g-C3N4(393μmol∙g‒1)and protonated g-C3N4(816μmol∙g‒1).The charge-regulated surfaces of PCN and the accelerated charge transport at the face-to-face 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction interface are the major contributors to the excellent hydrogen evolution performance of the composite photocatalyst.展开更多
Modification of nickel sulfide cocatalysts is considered to be a promising approach for efficient enhancement of the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of g-C3N4.Providing more NiS cocatalyst to function a...Modification of nickel sulfide cocatalysts is considered to be a promising approach for efficient enhancement of the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of g-C3N4.Providing more NiS cocatalyst to function as active sites of g-C3N4 is still highly desirable.To realize this goal,in this work,a facile sulfur-mediated photodeposition approach was developed.Specifically,photogenerated electrons excited by visible light reduce the S molecules absorbed on g-C3N4 surface to S^2‒,and subsequently NiS cocatalyst is formed in situ on the g-C3N4 surface by a combination of Ni2+and S2‒due to their small solubility product constant(Ksp=3.2×10^‒19).This approach has several advantages.The NiS cocatalyst is clearly in situ deposited on the photogenerated electron transfer sites of g-C3N4,and thus provides more active sites for H2 production.In addition,this method utilizes solar energy with mild reaction conditions at room temperature.Consequently,the synthesized NiS/g-C3N4 photocatalyst achieves excellent hydrogen generation performance with the performance of the optimal sample(244μmol h^‒1 g^‒1)close to that of 1 wt%Pt/g-C3N4(316μmol h^‒1 g^‒1,a well-known excellent photocatalyst).More importantly,the present sulfur-mediated photodeposition route is versatile and facile and can be used to deposit various metal sulfides such as CoSx,CuSx and AgSx on the g-C3N4 surface,and all the resulting metal sulfide-modified g-C3N4 photocatalysts exhibit improved H2-production performance.Our study offers a novel insight for the synthesis of high-efficiency photocatalysts.展开更多
A graphite carbon nitride(g-C3N4)modified Bi4O5I2 composite was successfully prepared insitu via the thermal treatment of a g-C3N4/Bi OI precursor at 400°C for 3 hr.The as-prepared g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 showed high phot...A graphite carbon nitride(g-C3N4)modified Bi4O5I2 composite was successfully prepared insitu via the thermal treatment of a g-C3N4/Bi OI precursor at 400°C for 3 hr.The as-prepared g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 showed high photocatalytic performance in Methyl Orange(MO)degradation under visible light.The best sample presented a degradation rate of 0.164 min^-1,which is 3.2 and 82 times as high as that of Bi4O5I2 and g-C3N4,respectively.The g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 was characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),Raman,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra(DRS),electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and transient photocurrent response in order to explain the enhanced photoactivity.Results indicated that the decoration with a small amount of g-C3N4 influenced the specific surface area only slightly.Nevertheless,the capability for absorbing visible light was improved measurably,which was beneficial to the MO degradation.On top of that,a strong interaction between g-C3N4 and Bi4O5I2 was detected.This interplay promoted the formation of a favorable heterojunction structure and thereby enhanced the charge separation.Thus,the g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 composite presented greater charge separation efficiency and much better photocatalytic performance than Bi4O5I2.Additionally,g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 also presented high stability.·O2^- and holes were verified to be the main reactive species.展开更多
A possible mechanism for boosting the visible-light photoactivities of graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)nanosheets for CO2 reduction via coupling with the electron donor Co-metal-organic framework(MOF)is proposed in th...A possible mechanism for boosting the visible-light photoactivities of graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)nanosheets for CO2 reduction via coupling with the electron donor Co-metal-organic framework(MOF)is proposed in this study.Specifically,Co-MOF as an electron donor is capable of transferring the photogenerated electrons in the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)to the conduction band of g-C3N4 to facilitate charge separation.As expected,the prepared Co-MOF/g-C3N4 nanocomposites display excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction activities.The CO production rate of 6.75μmol g–1 h–1 and CH4 evolution rate of 5.47μmol g–1 h–1 are obtained,which are approximately 2 times those obtained with the original g-C3N4 under the same conditions.Based on a series of analyses,it is shown that the introduction of Co-MOF not only broadens the range of visible-light absorption but also enhances the charge separation,which improves the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 to a higher level.In particular,the hydroxyl radical(·OH)experiment was operated under 590 nm(single-wavelength)irradiation,which further proved that the photogenerated electrons in the LUMO of Co-MOF can successfully migrate to g-C3N4.This work may provide an important strategy for the design of highly efficient g-C3N4-based photocatalysts for CO2 reduction.展开更多
Photocatalytic water splitting is a promising method for hydrogen production.Numerous efficient photocatalysts have been synthesized and utilized.However,photocatalysts without a noble metal as the co-catalyst have be...Photocatalytic water splitting is a promising method for hydrogen production.Numerous efficient photocatalysts have been synthesized and utilized.However,photocatalysts without a noble metal as the co-catalyst have been rarely reported.Herein,a CoP co-catalyst-modified graphitic-C3N4(g-C3N4/CoP)is investigated for photocatalytic water splitting to produce H2.The g-C3N4/CoP composite is synthesized in two steps.The first step is related to thermal decomposition,and the second step involves an electroless plating technique.The photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reactions of g-C3N4 is distinctly increased by loading the appropriate amount of CoP quantum dots(QDs).Among the as-synthesized samples,the optimized one(g-C3N4/CoP-4%)shows exceptional photocatalytic activity as compared with pristine g-C3N4,generating H2 at a rate of 936μmol g^-1 h^-1,even higher than that of g-C3N4 with 4 wt%Pt(665μmol g^-1 h^-1).The UV-visible and optical absorption behavior confirms that g-C3N4 has an absorption edge at 451 nm,but after being composited with CoP,g-C3N4/CoP-4%has an absorption edge at 497 nm.Furthermore,photoluminescence and photocurrent measurements confirm that loading CoP QDs to pristine g-C3N4 not only enhances the charge separation,but also improves the transfer of photogenerated e--h+pairs,thus improving the photocatalytic performance of the catalyst to generate H2.This work demonstrates a feasible strategy for the synthesis of highly efficient metal phosphide-loaded g-C3N4 for hydrogen generation.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foun-dation of China(No.62004143)the Key R&D Program of Hubei Province(No.2022BAA084)the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(No.2021CFB133).
摘要Doping engineering is an effective strategy for graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)to improve its photocat-alytic hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)performance.In this work,a novel nitrogen and sulfur co-doped g-C3N4(N,S-g-C3N4)is elaborately designed on the basis of theoretical predictions of first-principle density functional theory(DFT).The calculated Gibbs free energy of adsorbed hydrogen(ΔGH∗)for N,S-g-C3N4 at the N-doping active sites is extremely close to zero(0.01 eV).Inspired by the theoretical predictions,the N,S-g-C3N4 is successfully fabricated through ammonia-rich pyrolysis synthesis strategy,in which ammonia is in-situ obtained by pyrolyzing melamine.Subsequent characterizations indicate that the N,S-g-C3N4 possesses high specific surface area,outstanding light utilization,good hydrophilicity,and efficient carrier transfer efficiency.Consequently,the N,S-g-C3N4 displays an extremely high H2 evolution rate of 8269.9μmol g−1 h−1,achieves an apparent quantum efficiency(AQE)of 3.24%,and also possesses outsatnding durability.Theoretical calculations further demonstrate that N and S dopants can not only introduce doping energy level to reduce the band gap,but also induce charge redistribution to facilitate hydrogen adsorption,thus promoting the photocatalytic HER process.Moreover,femtosecond transient absorption(fs-TA)spectroscopy further corroborates the efficient photogenerated carrier transport of N,S-g-C3N4.This research highlights a promising and reliable strategy to achieve superior photocatalytic activity,and exhibits significant guidance for precise designing high-efficiency photocatalysts.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52362012,42077162,51978323)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(No.2022ACB203014)+4 种基金Major Discipline Academic and Technical Leaders Training Program of Jiangxi Province(Nos.20213BCJ22018,20232BCJ22048)Natural Science Project of the Educational Department in Jiangxi Province(No.GJJ2201121)Natural Science Foundation of Nanchang Hangkong University(No.EA202202256)Educational Reform Project of Jiangxi Province(No.JXYJG-2022-135)Nanchang Hangkong University Educational Reform Project(Nos.sz2214,sz2213,JY22017,KCPY1806)。
摘要Photocatalytic H2production from water splitting is a promising candidate for solving the increasing energy crisis and environmental issues.Herein we report a novel g-C3N4/Ag InxSyS-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst for water splitting into stoichiometric H2and H2O2under visible light.The catalyst was prepared by depositing 3D bimetallic sulfide(Ag InxSy)nanotubes onto 2D g-C3N4nanosheets.Owing to the special 3D-on-2D configuration,the photogenerated carriers could be rapidly transferred and effectively separated through the abundant interfacial heterostructures to avoid recombination,and therefore excellent performance for visible light-driven water splitting could be obtained,with a 24-h H2evolution rate up to 237μmol g-1h-1.Furthermore,suitable band alignment enables simultaneous H2and H2O2production in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio.H2and H2O2were evolved on the conduction band of g-C3N4and on the valance band of Ag InxSy,respectively.The novel 3D-on-2D configuration for heterojunction construction proposed in this work provided alternative research ideas toward photocatalytic reaction.
摘要Constructing step-scheme(S-scheme)heterojunctions has been confirmed as a promising strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of composite materials.In this work,a series of sulfur-doped g-C3N4(SCN)/TiO2 S-scheme photocatalysts were synthesized using electrospinning and calcination methods.The as-prepared SCN/TiO2 composites showed superior photocatalytic performance than pure TiO2 and SCN in the photocatalytic degradation of Congo Red(CR)aqueous solution.The significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity benefited not only from the 1D well-distributed nanostructure,but also from the S-scheme heterojunction.Furthermore,the XPS analyses and DFT calculations demonstrated that electrons were transferred from SCN to TiO2 across the interface of the SCN/TiO2 composites.The built-in electric field,band edge bending,and Coulomb interaction synergistically facilitated the recombination of relatively useless electrons and holes in hybrid when the interface was irradiated by simulated solar light.Therefore,the remaining electrons and holes with higher reducibility and oxidizability endowed the composite with supreme redox ability.These results were adequately verified by radical trapping experiments,ESR tests,and in situ XPS analyses,suggesting that the electron immigration in the photocatalyst followed the S-scheme heterojunction mechanism.This work can enrich our knowledge of the design and fabrication of novel S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts and provide a promising strategy for solving environmental pollution in the future.
摘要Converting sustainable solar energy into hydrogen energy over semiconductor-based photocatalytic materials provides an alternative to fossil fuel consumption.However,efficient photocatalytic splitting of water to realize carbon-free hydrogen production remains a challenge.Heterojunction photocatalysts with well-defined dimensionality and perfectly matched interfaces are promising for achieving highly efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion.Herein,we report the fabrication of a novel type of protonated graphitic carbon nitride(PCN)/Ti3C2 MXene heterojunctions with strong interfacial interactions.As expected,the two-dimensional(2D)PCN/2D Ti3C2 MXene interface heterojunction achieves a highly improved hydrogen evolution rate(2181μmol∙g‒1)in comparison with bulk g-C3N4(393μmol∙g‒1)and protonated g-C3N4(816μmol∙g‒1).The charge-regulated surfaces of PCN and the accelerated charge transport at the face-to-face 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction interface are the major contributors to the excellent hydrogen evolution performance of the composite photocatalyst.
摘要Modification of nickel sulfide cocatalysts is considered to be a promising approach for efficient enhancement of the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of g-C3N4.Providing more NiS cocatalyst to function as active sites of g-C3N4 is still highly desirable.To realize this goal,in this work,a facile sulfur-mediated photodeposition approach was developed.Specifically,photogenerated electrons excited by visible light reduce the S molecules absorbed on g-C3N4 surface to S^2‒,and subsequently NiS cocatalyst is formed in situ on the g-C3N4 surface by a combination of Ni2+and S2‒due to their small solubility product constant(Ksp=3.2×10^‒19).This approach has several advantages.The NiS cocatalyst is clearly in situ deposited on the photogenerated electron transfer sites of g-C3N4,and thus provides more active sites for H2 production.In addition,this method utilizes solar energy with mild reaction conditions at room temperature.Consequently,the synthesized NiS/g-C3N4 photocatalyst achieves excellent hydrogen generation performance with the performance of the optimal sample(244μmol h^‒1 g^‒1)close to that of 1 wt%Pt/g-C3N4(316μmol h^‒1 g^‒1,a well-known excellent photocatalyst).More importantly,the present sulfur-mediated photodeposition route is versatile and facile and can be used to deposit various metal sulfides such as CoSx,CuSx and AgSx on the g-C3N4 surface,and all the resulting metal sulfide-modified g-C3N4 photocatalysts exhibit improved H2-production performance.Our study offers a novel insight for the synthesis of high-efficiency photocatalysts.
基金financially supported by National Undergraduate Training Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(Nos.201810345012 and 201810345051)
摘要A graphite carbon nitride(g-C3N4)modified Bi4O5I2 composite was successfully prepared insitu via the thermal treatment of a g-C3N4/Bi OI precursor at 400°C for 3 hr.The as-prepared g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 showed high photocatalytic performance in Methyl Orange(MO)degradation under visible light.The best sample presented a degradation rate of 0.164 min^-1,which is 3.2 and 82 times as high as that of Bi4O5I2 and g-C3N4,respectively.The g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 was characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),Raman,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra(DRS),electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and transient photocurrent response in order to explain the enhanced photoactivity.Results indicated that the decoration with a small amount of g-C3N4 influenced the specific surface area only slightly.Nevertheless,the capability for absorbing visible light was improved measurably,which was beneficial to the MO degradation.On top of that,a strong interaction between g-C3N4 and Bi4O5I2 was detected.This interplay promoted the formation of a favorable heterojunction structure and thereby enhanced the charge separation.Thus,the g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 composite presented greater charge separation efficiency and much better photocatalytic performance than Bi4O5I2.Additionally,g-C3N4/Bi4O5I2 also presented high stability.·O2^- and holes were verified to be the main reactive species.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21871079,21501052)the Outstanding Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province(YQ2019B006)~~
摘要A possible mechanism for boosting the visible-light photoactivities of graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)nanosheets for CO2 reduction via coupling with the electron donor Co-metal-organic framework(MOF)is proposed in this study.Specifically,Co-MOF as an electron donor is capable of transferring the photogenerated electrons in the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)to the conduction band of g-C3N4 to facilitate charge separation.As expected,the prepared Co-MOF/g-C3N4 nanocomposites display excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction activities.The CO production rate of 6.75μmol g–1 h–1 and CH4 evolution rate of 5.47μmol g–1 h–1 are obtained,which are approximately 2 times those obtained with the original g-C3N4 under the same conditions.Based on a series of analyses,it is shown that the introduction of Co-MOF not only broadens the range of visible-light absorption but also enhances the charge separation,which improves the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 to a higher level.In particular,the hydroxyl radical(·OH)experiment was operated under 590 nm(single-wavelength)irradiation,which further proved that the photogenerated electrons in the LUMO of Co-MOF can successfully migrate to g-C3N4.This work may provide an important strategy for the design of highly efficient g-C3N4-based photocatalysts for CO2 reduction.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51602207)the Doctoral Scientific Research Foundation of Liaoning Province(20170520011)+3 种基金the Program for Liaoning Excellent Talents in Universities(LR2017074)the Open Project Program of the State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment(SKLPEE-201810)Fuzhou University,the Scientific Research Project of the Educational Department of Liaoning Province(LQN201712)Shenyang Excellent Talents in Universities(RC180211)~~
摘要Photocatalytic water splitting is a promising method for hydrogen production.Numerous efficient photocatalysts have been synthesized and utilized.However,photocatalysts without a noble metal as the co-catalyst have been rarely reported.Herein,a CoP co-catalyst-modified graphitic-C3N4(g-C3N4/CoP)is investigated for photocatalytic water splitting to produce H2.The g-C3N4/CoP composite is synthesized in two steps.The first step is related to thermal decomposition,and the second step involves an electroless plating technique.The photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reactions of g-C3N4 is distinctly increased by loading the appropriate amount of CoP quantum dots(QDs).Among the as-synthesized samples,the optimized one(g-C3N4/CoP-4%)shows exceptional photocatalytic activity as compared with pristine g-C3N4,generating H2 at a rate of 936μmol g^-1 h^-1,even higher than that of g-C3N4 with 4 wt%Pt(665μmol g^-1 h^-1).The UV-visible and optical absorption behavior confirms that g-C3N4 has an absorption edge at 451 nm,but after being composited with CoP,g-C3N4/CoP-4%has an absorption edge at 497 nm.Furthermore,photoluminescence and photocurrent measurements confirm that loading CoP QDs to pristine g-C3N4 not only enhances the charge separation,but also improves the transfer of photogenerated e--h+pairs,thus improving the photocatalytic performance of the catalyst to generate H2.This work demonstrates a feasible strategy for the synthesis of highly efficient metal phosphide-loaded g-C3N4 for hydrogen generation.