Fabrication of a full-spectrum-response Cu2(OH)2CO3/g-C3N4 heterojunction catalyst with outstanding photocatalytic H2O2 production performance via a self-sacrificial method

Over the past few decades, near infrared light (NIR), as an important part of sunlight, has seldom been utilized in photocatalytic reactions. In this work, a full-spectrum-response Cu-2(OH)(2)CO3/g-C3N4 photocatalyst with outstanding photocatalytic H2O2 production performance was synthesized. XRD, UV-Vis, N-2 adsorption, XPS, PL, EIS and EPR are used to characterize the as-prepared catalysts. As a light absorber from UV to NIR, Cu-2(OH)(2)CO3 can form more photogenerated electrons to recombine the holes in g-C3N4 through the Z-scheme mechanism. The as-prepared Cu-2(OH)(2)CO3/g-C3N4 photocatalyst shows the H2O2 equilibrium concentration of 8.9 mmol L-1, over 16 and 26.9 times higher than that of neat g-C3N4 and Cu-2(OH)(2)CO3. According to the Z-scheme mechanism, a two channel route to form H2O2 is proposed for the Cu-2(OH)(2)CO3/g-C3N4 heterojunction catalyst.