Designing novel 0D/1D/2D NiO@La(OH)3/g-C3N4 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

Structure design of heterojunction photocatalysts is highly desirable for making full use abilities of each component and junction. Herein, we designed a one-pot in-situ top-down and bottom-up combination strategy to construct novel 0D/1D ordered NiO@La(OH)3 heterostructure derived from NiO@LaNiO3 using high-temperature hydrothermal treatment. The 0D/1D NiO@La(OH)3 heterostructure had better charge transport capability than its single component and the corresponding mechanical mixture. Furthermore, NiO@La(OH)3 and g-C3N4 self-assembled into 0D/1D/2D NiO@La(OH)3/g-C3N4 ternary hierarchical heterostructure photo-catalyst by electrostatic interaction. The synergistic effect of 0D/1D/2D architecture and ternary heterojunction boost the internal separation and interface transmission of its photocarriers. Therefore, the obtained 0D/1D/2D NiO@La(OH)3/g-C3N4 ternary photocatalyst exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution ac-tivity, comparable to related g-C3N4-based photocatalysts. This work enriches our insight into designing novel hierarchical heterostructure catalysts.

Automated summary

In this study, a one-pot in-situ top-down and bottom-up combination strategy was used to construct a novel 0D/1D ordered NiO@La(OH)3 heterostructure derived from NiO@LaNiO3. The NiO@La(OH)3 heterostructure exhibited better charge transport capability compared to its single component and mechanical mixture. Furthermore, NiO@La(OH)3 and g-C3N4 self-assembled into a 0D/1D/2D NiO@La(OH)3/g-C3N4 ternary hierarchical heterostructure photo-catalyst by electrostatic interaction. The synergistic effect of the 0D/1D/2D architecture and ternary heterojunction enhanced the internal separation and interface transmission of photocarriers, resulting in significantly enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity.