Controlled Synthesis of Higher Interfacial Electron Transfer Graphite-Like Carbon Nitride/Perylenetetracarboxylic Diimide Heterogeneous for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

To exploit the noble-metal-free, highly efficient and broad-spectrum responsive photocatalyst of perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PDI), a self-assembled PDI nanowire is loaded on the surface of a graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheet and forms an all-organic supramolecular 1D/2D heterogeneous g-C3N4/PDI with broad-spectrum responsiveness (254-700 nm), which can improve the absorption efficiency of solar energy. In the g-C3N4/PDI system, the pi-pi conjugated bond in the g-C3N4/PDI can accelerate the photoinduced charge carrier transfer. On the other hand, the interlaced band structure between the g-C(3)N(4)and PDI and the Z-scheme pathway of the carriers leads to the spatial separation of redox reaction sites. Therefore, the g-C3N4/PDI photocatalyst reaches strong redox ability in the photocatalytic process. In detail, the photocatalytic phenol degradation of g-C3N4/PDI (0.837 h(-1)) is enhanced 2.67 and 9.19 times higher as the pure PDI and g-C3N4, respectively, under the full spectra. Meanwhile, the H(2)evolution activity of the g-C3N4/PDI (1649.93 mu mol g(-1) h(-1)) is 2.03 times higher than g-C(3)N(4)nanosheet (814.03 mu mol g(-1) h(-1)).

Automated summary

By assembling PDI nanowires onto g-C3N4 nanosheets, a highly efficient and broad-spectrum responsive PDI photocatalyst is formed, which shows excellent performance in solar energy absorption. The pi-pi conjugated bond in the g-C3N4/PDI system and the Z-scheme pathway of carriers can accelerate photoinduced charge carrier transfer and exhibit strong redox ability in the photocatalytic process.