Leaf-Mosaic-Inspired Vine-Like Graphitic Carbon Nitride Showing High Light Absorption and Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Green plants use solar energy efficiently in nature. Simulating the exquisite structure of a natural photosynthesis system may open a new approach for the construction of desirable photocatalysts with high light harvesting efficiency and performance. Herein, inspired by the excellent light utilization of leaf mosaic in plants, a novel vine-like g-C3N4 (V-CN) is synthesized for the first time by copolymerizing urea with dicyandiamide-formaldehyde (DF) resin. The as-prepared V-CN exhibits ultrahigh photocatalytic hydrogen production of 13.6 mmol g(-1) h(-1) under visible light and an apparent quantum yield of 12.7% at 420 nm, which is approximate to 38 times higher than that of traditional g-C3N4, representing one of the highest-activity g-C3N4-based photocatalysts. This super photocatalytic performance is derived from the unique leaf mosaic structure of V-CN, which effectively improves its light utilization and affords a larger specific surface area. In addition, the introduction of DF resin further optimizes the energy band of V-CN, extends its light absorption, and improves its crystallinity and interfacial charge transport, resulting in high performance. It is an easy and green strategy for the preparation of broad-spectrum, high-performance g-C3N4, which presents significant advancement for the design of other nanophotocatalysts by simulating the fine structure of natural photosynthesis.