Direct and efficient photocatalytic water splitting is critical for sustainable conversion and storage of renewable solar energy. Here, we propose a conceptual design of two-dimensional CN-based in-plane heterostructure to achieve fast spatial transfer of photoexcited electrons for realizing highly efficient and spontaneous overall water splitting. This unique plane heterostructural carbon ring (C)-CN nanosheet can synchronously expedite electron-hole pair separation and promote photoelectron transport through the local in-plane π-conjugated electric field, synergistically elongating the photocarrier diffusion length and lifetime by 10 times relative to those achieved with pristine g-CN. As a result, the in-plane (C)-CN heterostructure could efficiently split pure water under light irradiation with prominent H production rate up to 371 μmol g h and a notable quantum yield of 5% at 420 nm.
The unique temperature-responsive afterglow characteristics of CDs was reported for the first time, which can meet multiple potential applications in rapid fingerprint detection, temperature sensing, and advanced temperature-responsive anti-counterfeiting and encryption.
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