CoxP/Hollow Porous C3N4 as Highly Efficient Schottky Contact Photocatalyst for H2 Evolution from Water Splitting

Photocatalytic water splitting to obtain hydrogen energy can transform low-density solar to high density, new and clean energy in a clean way, which is one of the ideal ways to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this paper, The CoxP/hollow porous C3N4 composite photocatalytic material was synthesized by simple methods. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of CoxP/hollow porous C3N4 reaches 1602 mu mol g(-1) h(-1), which is 151 times of that of pure C3N4. The reasons for the high photocatalytic H-2 evolution activity of CoxP/hollow porous C3N4 could be summarized as follows: (1) the hollow and porous structure of C3N4 shows higher light capture efficiency, larger specific surface area and more surface active sites. (2) metalloid CoxP loaded forms the Schottky contact with C3N4, which improves the photogenerated charges separation efficiency of C3N4, prolongs the photogenerated charges lifetime and improves the photocatalytic H-2 evolution activity of C3N4. (3) The higher conductivity of metalloid CoxP and the lower overpotential of hydrogen production are other reasons for the higher activity of photocatalytic hydrogen production of CoxP/hollow porous C3N4. This work provides an important role for the design of efficient, stable, and efficient construction of photocatalysts for solar energy conversion.

Automated summary

Photocatalytic water splitting is an ideal way to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution, by transforming low-density solar energy into high-density, new and clean energy in a clean way. In this paper, the CoxP/hollow porous C3N4 composite photocatalytic material was synthesized using simple methods. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of CoxP/hollow porous C3N4 reached 1602 μmol g(-1) h(-1), which is 151 times higher than that of pure C3N4. The reasons for its high activity can be summarized as follows: the hollow and porous structure of C3N4, the Schottky contact between CoxP and C3N4, and the higher conductivity of CoxP.