Steam engraving optimization of graphitic carbon nitride with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been extensively investigated as an efficient photocatalyst for water splitting. However, the intrinsic drawbacks of low surface area and poor charge separation efficiency seriously limit its practical applications in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Here, we designed an efficient nanorod-C3N4 photocatalyst by a versatile and scalable steam engraved protocol, which can produce higher surface area, enhanced crystallinity, reduced lattice defects, as well as meliorative energy band configuration. The engraved C3N4 exhibited a remarkably longer lifetime of charge carriers and a much higher photocatalytic hydrogen production rate than the pristine C3N4. The specific activity of the engraved C3N4 (87 mu mol g(-1) h(-1) cm(-2) (BET)) is 10.4 times higher than that of pristine C3N4. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.