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Research Article

Multiscale structural engineering of carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic H2O2 production

Qing He1, Bounxome Viengkeo1, Xuan Zhao1, Zhengyuan Qin2, Jie Zhang1, Xiaohan Yu1, Yongpan Hu1, Wei Huang1( ), Yanguang Li1,3( )
Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Macao Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
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Graphical Abstract

A multiscale structural engineering strategy was employed to construct defective C3N4 spheres with improved optoelectronic properties and photocatalytic performance. The resultant product shows a remarkable H2O2 production rate and excellent photostability, yielding a high H2O2 concentration of > 45 mM after long-term irradiation.

Abstract

Carbon nitride (C3N4) holds great promise for photocatalytic H2O2 production from oxygen reduction. In spite of great research efforts, they still suffer from low catalytic efficiency primarily limited by the fast recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. In this work, we report the multiscale structural engineering of C3N4 to significantly improve its optoelectronic properties and consequently photocatalytic performance. The product consists of porous spheres with high surface areas, abundant nitrogen defects, and alkali metal doping. Under visible light irradiation, our catalyst shows a remarkable H2O2 production rate of 3,080 μmol·g−1·h−1, which is more than 10 times higher than that of bulk C3N4 and exceeds those of most other C3N4-based photocatalysts. Moreover, the catalyst exhibits great stability, and can continuously work for 15 h without obvious activity decay under visible light irradiation, eventually giving rise to a high H2O2 concentration of ca. 45 mM.

Keywords

photocatalytic H2O2 productionoxygen reductioncarbon nitridemultiscale structural engineering

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 4,
April 2023
Pages 4524-4530
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3882-1
Cite this article:
He Q, Viengkeo B, Zhao X, et al. Multiscale structural engineering of carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic H2O2 production. Nano Research, 2023, 16(4): 4524-4530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3882-1
Part of a topical collection:
Special Issue of Xiamen University Centennial CelebrationAccelerating clean energy innovations via nanotechnology toward achieving circular economy

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Received: 10 August 2021
Revised: 02 September 2021
Accepted: 11 September 2021
Published: 29 September 2021
© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
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