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Research Article

Introducing B–N unit boosts photocatalytic H2O2 production on metal-free g-C3N4 nanosheets

Weikang Wang1,2,§, Wei Zhang3,§, Yueji Cai1, Qing Wang1, Juan Deng1, Jingsheng Chen1, Zhifeng Jiang3, Yizhou Zhang4( ), Chao Yu1( )
School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Institute for Energy Research, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
School of Chemistry and Materials Science Institute of Advanced Materials and Flexible Electronics (IAMFE), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China

§ Weikang Wang and Wei Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

A rational design of porous B–N units modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets (BCNNS) photocatalyst was achieved by B-atoms doping and they are capable of yielding H2O2 at an impressive rate of 1.16 mmol·L–1·h–1 under 365 nm-monochrome light emitting diode irradiation with only bare loss of activity during repeated cycles.

Abstract

Metal-free catalyst for photocatalytic production of H2O2 is highly desirable with the long-term vision of artificial photosynthesis of solar fuel. In particular, the specific chemical bonds for selective H2O2 photosynthesis via 2e– oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) remain to be explored for understanding the forming mechanism of active sites. Herein, we report a facile doping method to introduce boron-nitrogen (B–N) bonds into the structure of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets (denoted as BCNNS) to provide significant photocatalytic activity, selectivity and stability. The theoretical calculation and experimental results reveal that the electron-deficient B–N units serving as electron acceptors improve photogenerated charge separation and transfer. The units are also proved to be superior active sites for selective O2 adsorption and activation, reducing the energy barrier for *OOH formation, and thereby enabling an efficient 2e– ORR pathway to H2O2. Consequently, with only bare loss of activity during repeated cycles, the optimal H2O2 production rate by BCNNS photocatalysts reaches 1.16 mmol·L–1·h–1 under 365 nm-monochrome light emitting diode (LED365nm) irradiation, increasing nearly 2–5 times as against the state-of-art metal-free photocatalysts. This work gives the first example of applying B–N bonds to enhance the photocatalytic H2O2 production as well as unveiling the underlying reaction pathway for efficient solar-energy transformations.

Keywords

graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheetsmetal-free photocatalystB–N bondsoxygen reduction reactionH2O2 production

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 2,
February 2023
Pages 2177-2184
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4976-0
Cite this article:
Wang W, Zhang W, Cai Y, et al. Introducing B–N unit boosts photocatalytic H2O2 production on metal-free g-C3N4 nanosheets. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 2177-2184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4976-0
Topics:
Photocatalysts

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Received: 28 June 2022
Revised: 26 August 2022
Accepted: 27 August 2022
Published: 21 September 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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