Engineered graphitic carbon nitride-based photocatalysts for visible-light-driven water splitting: A review

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), a polymeric semiconductor, has become a rising star for photocatalytic energy conversion because of its facile accessibility, metal-free nature, low cost, and environmentally benign properties. This work reviews the latest progress of g-C3N4-based materials in visible-light-driven water splitting to hydrogen. It begins with a brief history of g-C3N4, followed by various engineering strategies of g-C3N4, such as elemental doping, copolymerization, crystalline tailoring, surface engineering, and single-atom modification, for elevated photocatalytic water decomposition. In addition, the synthesis of g-C3N4 in different dimensions (0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D) and configurations of a series of g-C3N4-based heterojunctions (type II, Z-scheme, S-scheme, g-C3N4/metal, and g-C3N4/carbon heterojunctions) were also discussed for their improvement in photocatalytic hydrogen production. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities of g-C3N4-based nanomaterials are provided. It is anticipated that this review will promote the further development of the emerging g-C3N4-based materials for more efficiency in photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen.

RAS ID

38893

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2021

Volume

35

Issue

8

Funding Information

Australian Research Council National Natural Science Foundation of China

School

School of Engineering

Grant Number

ARC Number : DP170104264

Grant Link

http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170104264

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

ACS

Comments

Wang, S., Zhang, J., Li, B., Sun, H., & Wang, S. (2021). Engineered graphitic carbon nitride-based photocatalysts for visible-light-driven water splitting: A review. Energy & Fuels, 35(8), 6504-6526. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c00503

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c00503