Atomic carbon chain-linked polymeric carbon nitride: Roles of the carbon chain in enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance

The atomic carbon chain (ACC) insertion is an effective strategy to enhance the photocatalytic H-2 evolution of polymeric carbon nitride (CN), a photocatalyst with great potential for practical application, but the roles of ACCs need be deeper researched to distinctly clarify the structure-activity relationship. Herein, an ACC linked CN (ACC-CN) was simply synthesized by using benzoquinone as the linking agent, and exhibits the H2 evolution rates of similar to 5.9 times and similar to 50 % that of the bulk CN at wavelengths (lambda) of 480 and 420 nm, respectively, i.e., a lambda-dependent photoactivity enhancement. The photoactivity improvement of ACC-CN benefits from its considerably extended visible light absorption and enhanced charge separation, caused by the ACC introduced impurity level in the bandgap of ACC-CN. This work provides deep insight into the roles of ACCs in ACC-CN, favorable for future development of carbon chain modified CN photocatalysts.