g‐C₃N₄‐SiC‐Pt for Enhanced Photocatalytic H₂ Production from Water under Visible Light Irradiation

Abstract

Graphite carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) and SiC have drawn increasing attention for application in visible light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by water splitting due to their unique band structure and high physicochemical stability. Herein, a g‐C3N4‐SiC heterojunction with loaded noble metal is constructed. The g‐C3N4‐SiC‐Pt composite photocatalysts are successfully prepared by the combination method of bio‐reduction, sol deposition, and calcination. The layers of g‐C3N4 are thinned, and both SiC and Pt nanoparticles are simultaneously tightly bound to g‐C3N4 by calcination during the preparation of g‐C3N4‐SiC‐Pt. The heterojunction formed at the interface of SiC and g‐C3N4 enhances the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs. These composite photocatalysts achieve a high hydrogen evolution rate of 595.3 μmol h−1 g−1 with 1 wt% of deposited Pt, which is 3.7‐ and 2.07‐fold higher than those of g‐C3N4‐bulk and g‐C3N4‐SiC under visible light irradiation with a quantum efficiency of 2.76% at 420 nm, respectively.

Recent Advances of Bimetallic Sulfides‐Based Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

“…As a result, g-C 3 N 4 has been widely applied in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production. [77][78][79] Tan et al [80] employed a ligand-assisted hydrothermal method to prepare a 2D ultrathin ZnIn 2 S 4 (ZIS)/g-C 3 N 4 (CN) composite photocatalyst. To gain a deeper understanding of the interface interaction and charge transfer mechanism within the ZIS/CN composite photocatalyst, the researchers performed detailed density functional theory (DFT) calculations.…”

Acid protonation promoted different crystal phase structure silicon carbide-based carbon nitride composites to enhance the photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater

“…In 2023, Guan Y et al constructed 0D/1D/2D type Z-heterojunction of Ag nanodots/SiC nanofibers/g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic water decomposition; 35 Guo H. H et al prepared a Z-type heterostructure SiC/g-C 3 N 4 composite material with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline under visible light and the degradation rate reached 71.1% in 180 min. 36 Similarly, studies on silicon carbide and carbon nitride composite catalysts have been reported, mainly including g-C 3 N 4 -SiC-Pt, 37 ZrB 2 -SiC/C 3 N 4 . 38 Its applications mainly include the degradation of wastewater such as rhodamine B, alizarin red, and tetracycline, photocatalytic hydrogen production, and the construction of pressure-resistant materials.…”

Enhanced H2 evolution performance by carbonized SiC/g-C3N4 heterojunction under visible-light illumination

“…Many modifications have been done to improve the photocatalytic performance of SiC. For example, SiC nanowires with larger surface areas show higher H 2 evolution ability [17], SiC exhibits a higher H 2 evolution rate (HER) after boron-doping [15], and other SiC-based heterojunctions are designed for achieving high photocatalytic abilities [16,[18][19][20][21][22]. Furthermore, carbonization is reported to be an effective method for changing the band structure of semiconductors and is used regularly in these applications.…”