A novel cobalt ion implanted pyridylporphyrin/graphene oxide assembly for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

By facilely pre-implanting Co2+ ions in the graphene oxide, a novel 5,15-diphenyl-10,20-di(4-pyridyl)porphyrin pillared graphene oxide was fabricated by means of electrostatic interaction and coordination interaction. It was shown that the morphology and the structure of graphene oxide and pyridylporphyrin nanocomposite were modified by introducing Co2+ ions on the interface between graphene oxide and pyridylporphyrin. Furthermore, it was found that the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity over the Co2+ ions implanted in the graphene oxide and pyridylporphyrin nanocomposite was evidently higher than in the graphene oxide and pyridylporphyrin nanocomposite without Co2+. This confirmed that strong interaction and efficient electron transfer between pyridylporphyrin and graphene oxide are the important reasons for the enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution. Subsequently, this technique will be a simple and efficient approach to optimize the transfer pathway of photogenerated electrons and to improve photocatalytic performance by implanting metal ions in the interface of nanocomposites.