title: Flower-like Cobalt Hydroxide/Oxide on Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Visible-Light-Driven Water Oxidation.
abstract: Direct water oxidation via photocatalysis is a four-electron and multiple-proton process which requires high extra energy input to produce free dioxygen gas, making it exacting, especially under visible light irradiation. To improve the oxygen evolution reaction rates (OERs) and utilize more visible light, flower-like cobalt hydroxide/oxide (Fw-Co(OH)2/Fw-Co3O4) photocatalysts were prepared and loaded onto graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) by a facile coating method in this work. Influenced by the unique three-dimensional morphologies, the synthesized Fw-Co(OH)2or Fw-Co3O4/g-C3N4hybrids reveal favorable combination and synergism reflected by the modified photoelectric activities and the improved OER performances. Attributed to its prominent hydrotalcite structure, Fw-Co(OH)2shows better cocatalytic activity for g-C3N4modification compared with that of Fw-Co3O4. Specifically, 7 wt % Fw-Co(OH)2/g-C3N4photocatalyst exhibits photocurrent density 4 times higher and OER performance 5 times better than pristine g-C3N4. This work unambiguously promotes the application of sustainable g-C3N4in water oxidation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Huayang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Xiaochen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University , 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia.
authors.forename: Hongqi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0907-5626
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Moses O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Tadé
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
authors.forename: Shaobin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1751-9162
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: cobalt hydroxide; cobalt oxide; cocatalysts; g-C3N4; water oxidation