In situ synthesis of g-C₃N₄/WO₃ heterojunction plates array films with enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

Abstract

heterojunction plate array films with enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance were successfully synthesized through a combination of hydrothermal and dipping-annealing methods.Urea aqueous solutions were prepared as the precursors to in situ synthesize g-C 3 N 4 nanoparticles on the surface of WO 3 platelets. The PEC performances of the photoanodes were investigated by the photocurrent density and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE). As-prepared g-C 3 N 4 /WO 3 heterojunction films achieved a maximum photocurrent density of 2.10 mA cm À2 at +2.0 V (vs. RHE), which was almost 3-fold higher than that of the pure WO 3 film (0.78 mA cm À2 ) under illumination. And the highest IPCE value increased from 25.1% to 53.1% after the g-C 3 N 4 nanoparticles deposition. The enhanced PEC performance was attributed to the increased carriers density, better electron transport properties, longer electron lifetime and effective charge separation at the interface of heterojunction, which were confirmed by Mott-Schottky and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This study demonstrates that the low-dimensional morphological structure and in situ formation of heterojunction structure are expected to provide a promising photoanode for photoelectric catalysis.

Facile Preparation of g-C3N4-WO3 Composite Gas Sensing Materials with Enhanced Gas Sensing Selectivity to Acetone

“…All the diffraction peaks observed in XRD patterns of S-0, S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4 could be indexed to the standard data of WO 3 (JCPDS 43-1035). The diffraction peaks of g-C 3 N 4 could not be found because of the low concentration of g-C 3 N 4 in the composites [14]. It was reported that the diffraction peaks of g-C 3 N 4 did not appear in the XRD patterns of g-C 3 N 4 -WO 3 composites when the content of WO 3 was higher than 10 wt% [15].…”

“…Figure 1 shows the XRD patterns of pure g-C 3 N 4 , g-C 3 N 4 -WO 3 (S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4), and WO 3 . Two significant diffraction peaks were observed at 13.23°and 27.86°in the XRD pattern of g-C 3 N 4 , indicating the (100) and (002) planes of layered g-C 3 N 4 ; the weaker peak at 13.23°indicates the in-planar tris-s-triazine structural packing, and the stronger peak at 27.86°corresponds to the stacked of the aromatic systems between layers [6][7][8]14]. All the diffraction peaks observed in XRD patterns of S-0, S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4 could be indexed to the standard data of WO 3 (JCPDS 43-1035).…”

Carbon Quantum Dots sensitized Vertical WO3Nanoplates with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Properties

“…RHE) by extrapolating the X‐intercepts of the M−S plots. This negative shift evidences a more efficient charge transfer and better separation of photo‐generated carriers . The bottom of conduction band (CB) can be estimated by V FB since it is more negative by 0.1∼0.3 V than V FB .…”

Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4)‐based nanosized heteroarrays: Promising materials for photoelectrochemical water splitting

“…(G) LSV curves of WO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 NSA photoanodes with different g‐C 3 N 4 content. (Reproduced with permission: Copyright 2015, the Royal Society of Chemistry 123 …”