Overall water splitting by Pt/g-C3N4 photocatalysts without using sacrificial agents

We report the direct splitting of pure water by light-excited graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) modified with Pt, PtOx, and CoOx as redox cocatalysts, while pure g-C3N4 is virtually inactive for overall water splitting by photocatalysis. The novelty is in the selective creation of both H-2 and O-2 cocatalysts on surface active sites of g-C3N4 via photodeposition triggering the splitting of water for the simultaneous evolution of H-2 and O-2 gases in a stoichiometric ratio of 2 : 1, irradiated with light, without using any sacrificial reagents. The photocatalyst was stable for 510 hours of reaction.