High‐Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation with Phosphorus‐Doped and Metal Phosphide Cocatalyst‐Modified g‐C3N4 Formation Through Gas Treatment. Issue 4 (25th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qin, Dong‐Dong; Quan, Jing‐Jing; Duan, Shi‐Fang; San Martin, Jovan; Lin, Yixiong; Zhu, Xiaolin; Yao, Xiao‐Qiang; Su, Jin‐Zhan; Rodríguez‐Gutiérrez, Ingrid; Tao, Chun‐Lan; Yan, Yong
• Is Part Of: ChemSusChem. Volume 12:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 898
• Page End: 907
• Publication Date: 2019-01-25
• Subjects: cocatalyst -- doping -- graphitic carbon nitride -- metal phosphide -- photoelectrocatalysis; Green chemistry -- Periodicals; Sustainable engineering -- Periodicals; Chemistry -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; 660
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201802382
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1864-5631

Abstract

Abstract: Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3 N4 ) has been widely explored as a photocatalyst for water splitting. The anodic water oxidation reaction (WOR) remains a major obstacle for such processes, with issues such as low surface area of g‐C3 N4, poor light absorption, and low charge‐transfer efficiency. In this work, such longtime concerns have been partially addressed with band gap and surface engineering of nanostructured graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3 N4 ). Specifically, surface area and charge‐transfer efficiency are significantly enhanced through architecting g‐C3 N4 on nanorod TiO2 to avoid aggregation of layered g‐C3 N4 . Moreover, a simple phosphide gas treatment of TiO2 /g‐C3 N4 configuration not only narrows the band gap of g‐C3 N4 by 0.57 eV shifting it into visible range but also generates in situ a metal phosphide (M=Fe, Cu) water oxidation cocatalyst. This TiO2 /g‐C3 N4 /FeP configuration significantly improves charge separation and transfer capability. As a result, our non‐noble‐metal photoelectrochemical system yields outstanding visible light (>420 nm) photocurrent: approximately 0.3 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V and 1.1 mA cm −2 at 2.0 V versus RHE, which is the highest for a g‐C3 N4 ‐based photoanode. It is expected that the TiO2 /g‐C3 N4 /FeP configuration synthesized by a simple phosphide gas treatment will provide new insight for producing robust g‐C3 N4 for water oxidation. Abstract : A single step for g‐C3 N4, a giant leap for water splitting : A simple phosphide gas treatment of g‐C3 N4 coated TiO2 ‐nanorod configuration not only narrows the band gap of g‐C3 N4 by 0.57 eV into visible range but also generates a metal phosphide (M=Fe, Cu) water oxidation cocatalyst in situ. This TiO2 /g‐C3 N4 /FeP configuration significantly improves charge separation and transfer capability, resulting in an enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation.