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Chen L, Li M, Xiao Q, Yang Y, Huang P, Qiu X. Highly Hydrophilic and Defective Carbon Nitride for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:11704-11714. [PMID: 38109496 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), as a kind of nonmetallic low-cost photocatalyst, has great potential in photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution, but its poor hydrophilicity and nonwetting extremely limit its H2 evolution efficiency. Herein, highly hydrophilic and defective g-C3N4 photocatalysts (NH3-CN-P as a representative example) have been fabricated on the basis of the strategy of joint phosphorus doping and ammonia stripping. The dopant of phosphorus prefers to occupy the C atoms bonded to -NH2 groups in the g-C3N4 skeleton, which is conducive to the formation of N defects caused by the effects of electronegativity and charge balance. Moreover, ammonia stripping plays a dual role in exposing plentiful two-dimensional defective planar structure and implanting the hydrophilic groups on the surface. As expected, the photocatalytic H2 evolution property of NH3-CN-P reaches 11.31 mmol g-1 h-1, with an apparent quantum yield of 17.9% at 420 nm, outperforming the majority of the reported g-C3N4-based photocatalysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Chen
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
| | - Miao Li
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
| | - Qinqin Xiao
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
| | - Ying Yang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
| | - Peixian Huang
- School of Data Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518172, P. R. China
| | - Xiaoqing Qiu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
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Dahlan NAN, Putri LK, Er CC, Ng BJ, Ooi CW, Tan LL, Chai SP. Effective Low-Powered Photocatalytic Disinfection via Synchronous Introduction of Oxygen Dopants and Carbon Defects in Carbon Nitride. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:53371-53381. [PMID: 37935594 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c10243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Establishing an effective metal-free photocatalyst for sustainable applications remains a huge challenge. Herein, we developed ultrathin oxygen-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets with carbon defects (OCvN) photocatalyst via a facile gas bubble template-assisted thermal copolymerization method. A series of OCvN with different dopant amounts ranging from 0 to 10% were synthesized and used as photocatalysts under illumination of low-power (2 × 18 W, 0.18 mW/cm2) and commercially available energy-saving light bulbs. Upon testing for photocatalytic Escherichia coli inactivation, the best-performing sample, OCvN-3, demonstrated an astonishing disinfection activity of over 7-log reduction after 3 h of illumination, boasting an 18-fold improvement in its antibacterial activity compared to that of pristine g-C3N4. The enhanced performance was attributed to the synergistic effects of increased surface area, extended visible light harvesting, improved electronic conductivity, and ultralow resistance to charge transfer. This study successfully introduced a green photocatalyst that demonstrates the most effective disinfection performance ever recorded among metal-free g-C3N4 materials. Its disinfection capabilities are comparable to those of metal-based photocatalysts when they are exposed to low-power light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nur Atika Nikma Dahlan
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Lutfi Kurnianditia Putri
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Chen-Chen Er
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Boon-Junn Ng
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Chien Wei Ooi
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Lling-Lling Tan
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Siang-Piao Chai
- Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
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Zhang H, Wang C, Li L, Zhang J, Zhao J, Sun T, Cui B. 3D-crumpled graphitic carbon nitride achieving promoted visible-light-driven molecular oxygen activation for phenol degradation. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 321:138107. [PMID: 36773675 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Boosting optical absorption and charge transfer of g-C3N4 is of great importance but a challenging task for developing metal-free high-performance photocatalyst. Herein, 3D-crumpled g-C3N4 (DCN) is synthesized through a direct top-down thermal etching strategy. The thermal exfoliation of layered bulk g-C3N4 (BCN) in air atmosphere induces partial distortion of heptazine-based g-C3N4 nanosheet, which further self-assemble into 3D-crumpled network structure. Spectroscopic and photoelectrochemical characterization demonstrate that the unique DCN can not only remarkably extend the visible-light response region to 600 nm by awakening the n-π* electron transition, but also significantly promote O2 activation for selective H2O2 generation owing to the intensified electron delocalization and charge transport ability. Thus, DCN catalyst realizes an excellent photocatalytic phenol degradation rate under visible light irradiation (0.690 h-1), far (4.4-fold) out from the BCN counterparts. This work enables synergistic optimization of optical absorption, charge transport and surface-active sites by constructing a 3D-crumpled structure, which expands the engineering toolbox of metal-free skeleton photocatalyst for developing practical and economical catalysts for environmental remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
| | - Chengwen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Lei Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Water Environmental and Ecological Technology for River Basins, Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute, Beijing, 100048, China
| | - Jiaxin Zhang
- School of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Jinbo Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Tao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Baoshan Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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Lu Q, Abdelgawad A, Li J, Eid K. Non-Metal-Doped Porous Carbon Nitride Nanostructures for Photocatalytic Green Hydrogen Production. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232315129. [PMID: 36499453 PMCID: PMC9735614 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232315129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Photocatalytic green hydrogen (H2) production through water electrolysis is deemed as green, efficient, and renewable fuel or energy carrier due to its great energy density and zero greenhouse emissions. However, developing efficient and low-cost noble-metal-free photocatalysts remains one of the daunting challenges in low-cost H2 production. Porous graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) nanostructures have drawn broad multidisciplinary attention as metal-free photocatalysts in the arena of H2 production and other environmental remediation. This is due to their impressive catalytic/photocatalytic properties (i.e., high surface area, narrow bandgap, and visible light absorption), unique physicochemical durability, tunable electronic properties, and feasibility to synthesize in high yield from inexpensive and earth-abundant resources. The physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of porous gCNs can be easily optimized via the integration of earth-abundant heteroatoms. Although there are various reviews on porous gCN-based photocatalysts for various applications, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reviews on heteroatom-doped porous gCN nanostructures for the photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction (HER). It is essential to provide timely updates in this research area to highlight the research related to fabrication of novel gCNs for large-scale applications and address the current barriers in this field. This review emphasizes a panorama of recent advances in the rational design of heteroatom (i.e., P, O, S, N, and B)-doped porous gCN nanostructures including mono, binary, and ternary dopants for photocatalytic HERs and their optimized parameters. This is in addition to H2 energy storage, non-metal configuration, HER fundamental, mechanism, and calculations. This review is expected to inspire a new research entryway to the fabrication of porous gCN-based photocatalysts with ameliorated activity and durability for practical H2 production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingqing Lu
- Engineering & Technology Center of Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
| | - Ahmed Abdelgawad
- Gas Processing Center (GPC), College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
| | - Jiaojiao Li
- Engineering & Technology Center of Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
| | - Kamel Eid
- Gas Processing Center (GPC), College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
- Correspondence:
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