Aligning potential differences within carbon nitride based photocatalysis for efficient solar energy harvesting

Photocatalysis is essentially triggered by the photoinduced charge carriers, which are then oriented for the targeted redox reactions. However, the effects of intrinsic driving forces on charge carriers and their resulting photocatalytic throughputs remain unclear. Herein, we focus on two main potential differences (PDs), e.g., intralayer PD (IPD) within two-dimensional carbon nitride hybrids, and band PD (BPD) between the band positions of a semiconductor and the redox potentials of reactants that can actuate charge carriers for photo catalysis. In situ experiments and theoretical computations identify and differentiate the roles of the two PDs on the separation, transportation and catalytic utilization of charge carriers. It is noteworthy that the enhancement from PDs alignment in this work is higher than other physiochemical modifications (e.g., mass transfer and polymerization degree) for photocatalysis. This study may offer a guiding principle for aligning a photocatalyst with target reactions for energy conversion and chemical synthesis.

Automated summary

Photocatalysis relies on photoinduced charge carriers, and the study finds that intrinsic driving forces like IPD and BPD can significantly impact the separation and utilization of charge carriers, leading to enhanced photocatalytic performance. Alignment of PDs proves to be more effective in enhancing photocatalysis compared to other physiochemical modifications.