Tuning the Morphology of g-C₃N₄ for Improvement of Z-Scheme Photocatalytic Water Oxidation

Abstract

Solar-driven water oxidation is the key step for overall water splitting that efficiently harvests and converts solar energy into fuels; the development of a highly efficient photocatalyst that can mediate water oxidation has become an appealing challenge. Herein, we report a facile two-step process to decorate silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) particles on different types of graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) as composite photocatalysts for water oxidation. For all the Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 materials, an in situ Z-scheme is created by the generation of Ag nanoparticles which act as a cross-linking bridge between Ag3PO4 and g-C3N4 in the composite, resulting in better charge separation and higher catalytic performance. A detailed analysis emphasizes the importance of the g-C3N4 on the chemical, photophysical, and catalytic properties of the composite materials. Our results show that the alteration of the morphology dominates the performance of the composite materials.

Hydroxyapatite/N-doped carbon dots/Ag3PO4 composite for improved visible-light photocatalytic performance

“…To solve the limitations of Ag 3 PO 4 , hybrid photocatalysts have been proposed. 13,14,22,[36][37][38][39][40] Among them, Zhang et al 22 reported that coupling Ag 3 PO 4 with CDs was an effective strategy to improve the stability of Ag 3 PO 4 , since the dissolution of Ag 3 PO 4 could be impeded by CDs. Hong et al 13 and Chai et al 14 also pointed out hydroxyapatite supported Ag 3 PO 4 prepared via in situ ionexchange method could effectively reduce the cost and improve the photocatalytic activity of the composite.…”

Graphene-wrapped Ag 3 PO 4 /LaCO 3 OH heterostructures for water purification under visible light

“…Recently, significant work has been carried out on Ag 3 PO 4 /GR [29][30][31] and Ag 3 PO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 [32][33][34][35] composites for water splitting and organic pollutant remediation applications.…”

Synthesis of nanoporous carbon nitride using calcium carbonate as templates with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

“…Therefore, many strategies have been taken to modify g-C 3 N 4 such as doping metal-nometal ions [12][13][14][15], combining with other semiconductors [18][19][20][21][22], constructing g-C 3 N 4 -based Z-scheme [23][24][25][26], fabricating the π conjugated structure to reduce the position of the valence band [25,26], and designing an appropriate textural porosity [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The fabrication of porous g-C 3 N 4 with high surface area and tunable pore diameter is particular interest because a larger surface area of photocatalyst can be favorable for the photoactivity by providing more contact chances between the photocatalysts and substances.…”