Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic H2O2 Production on g-C3N4 Loaded with CoP as a Noble Metal Free Cocatalyst

A composite catalyst combining CoP with g-C3N4 was explored for the photocatalytic production of H2O2 under visible-light irradiation. The composite catalyst was fabricated by growth of CoP nanoparticles on the surface of g-C3N4. The CoP nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surface of g-C3N4 and could interact with g-C3N4 to improve charge separation and electron transfer. The composite catalyst showed superior catalytic activity compared with pure CoP or g-C3N4 under visible-light irradiation. The optimal catalyst with 1.76 wt.-% CoP loading exhibited the best photocatalytic efficiency with an H2O2 production of 140 mu m in 2 h, which is about 4.6 and 23.3 times those of pure g-C3N4 and pure CoP, respectively. A possible mechanism for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic production of H2O2 is proposed. The composite catalyst exhibited stable performance without obvious loss of catalytic activity after seven successive runs, and thus has good application prospects in sustainable H2O2 production.