title: Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-generation activity of carbon/g-C3N4nanocomposites prepared by two-step thermal treatment.
abstract: Photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) production from water by using solar energy and a photocatalyst is a green and sustainable route to tackle the energy issues. Herein, carbon/g-C3N4nanocomposites were successfully synthesized via a two-step thermal treatment of urea and glucose with different ratios. As confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a C-O-C bond was formed between carbon and g-C3N4, which leads to a strong interaction between carbon and g-C3N4. The prepared samples were evaluated for photocatalytic H2generation under visible light irradiation. The experimental results indicate that the carbon/g-C3N4nanocomposites show great photocatalytic H2evolution activity, as high as 410.1 μmol g-1h-1, which is 13.6-fold of pure g-C3N4. The enhanced photocatalytic performance not only originates from the enlarged surface area and extended visible light response range, but also from the effectively separated photo-generated charge carriers. This spatial charge separation greatly suppresses the recombination of photo-generated hole-electron pairs and facilitates efficient H2production. This work provides a facile way to design highly efficient carbon nitride-based photocatalysts for potential application in photocatalytic reaction by using solar energy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P. R. China. jiaguoyu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Quanlong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chuanjia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jiaguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu