title: Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-Pt-TiO2 nanocomposite as an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation.
abstract: Porous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C(3)N(4)) was prepared by a simple pyrolysis of urea, and then a g-C(3)N(4)-Pt-TiO(2) nanocomposite was fabricated via a facile chemical adsorption followed by a calcination process. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectra, and electron microscopy. It is found that the visible-light-induced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate can be remarkably enhanced by coupling TiO(2) with the above g-C(3)N(4), and the g-C(3)N(4)-Pt-TiO(2) composite with a mass ratio of 70 : 30 has the maximum photoactivity and excellent photostability for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation, and the stable photocurrent of g-C(3)N(4)-TiO(2) is about 1.5 times higher than that of the bare g-C(3)N(4). The above experimental results show that the photogenerated electrons of g-C(3)N(4) can directionally migrate to Pt-TiO(2) due to the close interfacial connections and the synergistic effect existing between Pt-TiO(2) and g-C(3)N(4) where photogenerated electrons and holes are efficiently separated in space, which is beneficial for retarding the charge recombination and improving the photoactivity.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Tianyou
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zan