g-C3N4-Modified Water-Crystallized Mesoporous SnO2 for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Properties

A novel type of high-performance photoelectrochemical (PEC) electrode is conveniently fabricated. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanodots are homogeneously deposited inside an amorphous host of mesoporous 1D SnO2 via pulsed electrophoresis, followed by extremely facile water-soaking treatment to crystallize the amorphous SnO2. The g-C3N4/SnO2 nanocomposite thus obtained readily serves as a PEC electrode that is able to extend the light absorption to the visible region, delivering a photocurrent density of 1.8 mA cm(-2) at 0.2 V (vs Ag/AgCl) under simulated solar light irradiation, which is approximate to 1.5 times higher than that of pristine SnO2 host. The facile and mild electrophoresis/water-soaking method reported here can be extended to fabricate other high performance photoelectrode systems from various anodic mesoporous materials and nanoparticles.