In Situ Synthesis of Cu3P/P-Doped g-C3N4 Tight 2D/2D Heterojunction Boosting Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

Heterojunction design in a two-dimensional (2D) fashion has been deemed beneficial for improving the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 because of the promoted interfacial charge transfer, yet still facing challenges. Herein, we construct a novel 2D/2D Cu3P nanosheet/P-doped g-C3N4 (PCN) nanosheet heterojunction photocatalyst (PCN/Cu3P) through a simple in-situ phosphorization treatment of 2D/2D CuS/g-C3N4 composite for photocatalytic H-2 evolution. We demonstrate that the 2D lamellar structure of both CuS and g-C3N4 could be well reserved in the phosphorization process, while CuS and g-C3N4 in-situ transformed into Cu3P and PCN, respectively, leading to the formation of PCN/Cu3P tight 2D/2D heterojunction. Owing to the large contact area provided by intimate face-to-face 2D/2D structure, the PCN/Cu3P photocatalyst exhibits significantly enhanced charge separation efficiency, thus achieving a boosted visible-light-driven photocatalytic behavior. The highest rate for H-2 evolution reaches 5.12 mu mol & BULL;h(-1), nearly 24 times and 368 times higher than that of pristine PCN and g-C3N4, respectively. This work represents an excellent example in elaborately constructing g-C3N4-based 2D/2D heterostructure and could be extended to other photocatalyst/co-catalyst system.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the construction of a two-dimensional heterostructure photocatalyst, which significantly improves the photocatalytic activity. The two-dimensional heterostructure is achieved through a simple in-situ phosphorization treatment, and exhibits excellent structural stability and photocatalytic performance.