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Enhancing hydrogen evolution of g-C3N4 with nitrogen vacancies by ethanol thermal treatment

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Abstract

A highly photoactive nitrogen-deficient g-C3N4 photocatalyst with porous frame work has been prepared by a simple, effective, and environmental-friendly method of ethanol thermal treatment. It is found that the as-synthesized catalyst exhibits an enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution. The H2-evolution rate on the treated g-C3N4 is 4.2 times higher than the untreated-C3N4. The treated g-C3N4 and untreated g-C3N4 are characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL), UV-Vis absorption (UV-Vis), photocurrent measurement, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Characterization results show that the ethanol thermal treatment induces nitrogen vacancies and hierarchical porous structure in g-C3N4. Such a structural reconstruction is beneficial for improving optical absorption and hindering photoinduced charger recombination on g-C3N4, resulting in the enhanced photocatalytic activity. This work would offer a reference route to develop high-performance metal-free photocatalysts.

Schematic of the effect on the structure of g-C3N4 by the ethanol thermal treatment

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the financial support from Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2017A020216019) and Nature Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2017JM5004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, China

    Qingyun Chen, Fan Du, Cheng Cheng, Xiaohe Liu & Yunhai Wang

  2. Guangdong Xi’an Jiaotong University Academy, Foshan, 528000, China

    Yunhai Wang

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  1. Qingyun Chen
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  2. Fan Du
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  3. Cheng Cheng
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  4. Xiaohe Liu
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  5. Yunhai Wang
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Correspondence to Qingyun Chen.

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Chen, Q., Du, F., Cheng, C. et al. Enhancing hydrogen evolution of g-C3N4 with nitrogen vacancies by ethanol thermal treatment. J Nanopart Res 20, 95 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-018-4190-x

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