Synergy of intermolecular Donor-Acceptor and ultrathin structures in crystalline carbon nitride for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Crystalline carbon nitride is regarded as the new generation of emerging metal-free photocatalysts as opposed to polymeric carbon nitride (g-CN) because of its high crystalline structure and ultrahigh photocatalytic water splitting performance. However, further advances in crystalline g-CN are significantly restricted by the sluggish separation of charge carriers and limited active sites. In this study, we demonstrate the successful synthesis of heptazine-triazine donor-acceptor-based ultrathin crystalline g-CN nanosheets (UCCN) using a combined hot air exfoliation and molten salt (NaCl/KCl) copolymerization approach. The synergy of the donor-acceptor heterojunction and the ultrathin structure greatly accelerated the separation of the charge carriers and enriched the active sites. Accordingly, the superior hydrogen evolution activity and an ultrahigh apparent quantum efficiency of 73.6% at 420 nm under a natural photosynthetic environment were achieved by UCCN, positioning this material at the top among reported conjugated g-CN materials. This study provides a novel paradigm for the development of donor-acceptor-based ultrathin crystalline layered materials.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2022

Volume

607

Issue

Pt 2

PubMed ID

34592547

Publication Title

Journal of colloid and interface science

Publisher

Elsevier

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

45371

Funders

Funding information is available in the Acknowledgements section

Comments

Song, H., Liu, X., Wang, Y., Chen, L., Zhang, J., Zhao, C., ... & Sun, H. (2022). Synergy of Intermolecular Donor-Acceptor and Ultrathin Structures in Crystalline Carbon Nitride for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.088

Copyright

subscription content

First Page

1603

Last Page

1612

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.088