As one of the most appealing and attractive technologies, photocatalysis is widely used as a promising method to circumvent the environmental and energy problems. Due to its chemical stability and unique physicochemical, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has become research hotspots in the community. However, g-C3N4 photocatalyst still suffers from many problems, resulting in unsatisfactory photocatalytic activity such as low specific surface area, high charge recombination and insufficient visible light utilization. Since 2009, g-C3N4-based heterostructures have attracted the attention of scientists worldwide for their greatly enhanced photocatalytic performance. Overall, this review summarizes the recent advances of g-C3N4-based nanocomposites modified with transition metal sulfide (TMS), including (1) preparation of pristine g-C3N4, (2) modification strategies of g-C3N4, (3) design principles of TMS-modified g-C3N4 heterostructured photocatalysts, and (4) applications in energy conversion. What is more, the characteristics and transfer mechanisms of each classification of the metal sulfide heterojunction system will be critically reviewed, spanning from the following categories: (1) Type I heterojunction, (2) Type II heterojunction, (3) p-n heterojunction, (4) Schottky junction and (5) Z-scheme heterojunction. Apart from that, the application of g-C3N4-based heterostructured photocatalysts in H2 evolution, CO2 reduction, N2 fixation and pollutant degradation will also be systematically presented. Last but not least, this review will conclude with invigorating perspectives, limitations and prospects for further advancing g-C3N4-based heterostructured photocatalysts toward practical benefits for a sustainable future.
Constructing suitable defects in lattice is of great significance for developing new elastic mechanoluminescent materials. Here a series of novel mechanoluminescent phosphors Na2Mg1-xGeO4:xMn2+ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.025) were synthesized...
The growing awareness of energy conservation has stimulated intensive research activities toward solar energy utilization. It is predicted that the annual average CO 2 concentration for 2021 is 416.3 ppm (AE0.6), which is the first year on record that sees CO 2 levels of more than 50% above preindustrial levels, indicating the urgency of the global environmental burdens. [1] Since the pioneering utilizing n-type TiO 2 electrode to produce H 2 via photoelectrochemical water splitting by Fujishima and Honda in 1972, semiconductor photocatalysis technology is considered as one of the fascinating technologies to alleviate energy problems. [2] With the development of research in recent years, photocatalytic reduction reaction (such as photocatalytic water splitting, CO 2 reduction, and nitrogen fixation) has been paid more and more attention to solve the critical issues related to energy and the environment. However, photocatalyst with large bandgap energy, such as TiO 2 , remains the bottleneck to satisfy the practical application owing to the low efficiency of solar energy utilization. [3,4] Therefore, extensive efforts have been undertaken to develop visible-lightirradiated photocatalysts that can better utilize solar energy. Until now, various visible-light photocatalysts have been invented by the researchers, such as simple oxides (Fe 2 O 3 ), [5] graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), [6][7][8][9] complex oxides (Bi 2 WO 6 ), [10] and metal chalcogenides (CdS). [11] In recent years, metal chalcogenides have been extensively investigated as the next-generation photocatalyst for their excellent optoelectronic and catalytic properties. [12] Zinc indium sulfide (ZnIn 2 S 4 ), a novel ternary metal chalcogenide, has been applied in many applications due to its outstanding properties (Figure 1). It is a layered structure photocatalyst with three major
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