Improved Plasmonic Hot‑Electron Capture in Au Nanoparticle/Polymeric Carbon Nitride by Pt Single Atoms for Broad‑Spectrum Photocatalytic H_(2)Evolution

ABSTRACT Rationally designing broad-spectrum photocatalysts to harvest whole visible-light region photons and enhance solar energy conversion is a“holy grail”for researchers,but is still a challenging issue.Herein,based on the common polymeric carbon nitride(PCN),a hybrid co-catalysts system comprising plasmonic Au nanoparticles(NPs)and atomically dispersed Pt single atoms(PtSAs)with different functions was constructed to address this challenge.For the dual co-catalysts decorated PCN(PtSAs–Au_(2.5)/PCN),the PCN is photoexcited to generate electrons under UV and short-wavelength visible light,and the synergetic Au NPs and PtSAs not only accelerate charge separation and transfer though Schottky junctions and metal-support bond but also act as the co-catalysts for H_(2) evolution.Furthermore,the Au NPs absorb long-wavelength visible light owing to its localized surface plasmon resonance,and the adjacent PtSAs trap the plasmonic hot-electrons for H_(2) evolution via direct electron transfer effect.Consequently,the PtSAs–Au_(2.5)/PCN exhibits excellent broad-spectrum photocatalytic H_(2) evolution activity with the H_(2) evolution rate of 8.8 mmol g^(−1) h^(−1) at 420 nm and 264μmol g^(−1) h^(−1) at 550 nm,much higher than that of Au_(2.5)/PCN and PtSAs–PCN,respectively.This work provides a new strategy to design broad-spectrum photocatalysts for energy conversion reaction.

Sulfur vacancies-induced“Electron Bridge”in Ni_(4)Mo/Sv-Zn_(x)Cd_(1-x)S regulates electron transfer for efficient H_(2)-releasing photocatalysis

Despite the existence of plentiful photocatalyst heterojunctions,their separation efficiency and charge flow precision remain low on account of lacking interfacial modulation.Herein,through a defect-induced heterojunction constructing strategy,Ni4Mo alloys were in-situ grown on the unsaturated coordinated sulfur atoms of sulfur vacancies-rich ZCS(Sv-ZCS)via interfacial Ni-S covalent bonds.The experimental and theoretical results reveal that these unsaturated sulfur atoms induced by sulfur vacancies vastly facilitate to anchor more Ni-Mo nanoparticles and form abundant Ni-S covalent bonds,meanwhile,these sulfur vacancies could form dual internal electric field(IEF)and work with Ni-S covalent bonds as“Electron Bridge”to further accelerate photoelectrons transfer,as well as promote the activation of water molecules and the desorption of hydrogen proton.Accordingly,the optimized Ni_(4)Mo/Sv-ZCS composite achieves an improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution(PHE)rate of 94.69 mmol h^(-1)g^(-1)without an evident decrease after 6 cycles of photocatalytic tests,which is 21.2 and 1.94 times higher than those of Pt/ZCS and Ni_(4)Mo/ZCS,respectively.This tactic opens a new way for optimizing Zn_(x)Cd_(1-x)S-based heterojunctions by constructing sulfur vacancies and covalent bonds as“Electron Bridge”to enhance the activity of PHE.

Room-temperature solid phase surface engineering of BiOI sheets stacking g-C_(3)N_(4) boosts photocatalytic reduction of Cr(Ⅵ)

Cr(Ⅵ)-based compounds pollution have attracted global concern due to serious harm to humans and environment.Hence,it is crucial to exploit an effective technique to eliminate Cr(Ⅵ)in water.Herein,we in-situ grown BiOI on graphitic carbon nitride to prepare the BiOI/g-C_(3)N_(4)(BCN)direct Z-scheme heterojunction by solid phase engineering method at room temperature.Experimental result shown the photocatalytic activity of pure BiOI were obviously enhanced by constructing Z-scheme BCN heterostructure,and BCN-3 heterostructure exhibited the optimal photocatalytic degradation of RhB with 98%yield for 2.5 h and reduction of Cr(Ⅵ)with more than 99%yield for 1.5 h at pH=2.Stability test shows BCN-3 still kept more than 98%reduction efficiency after 6 cycles.In addition,we also studied the reduction mechanism that shown the.O_(2)^(-)radicals essentially helped to reduce the Cr(Ⅵ)in aqueous solution under illumination,verified the direct Z-scheme charge transfer path by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and the free radical trapping experiment.The work open a new way for rationally designing photocatalyst heterostructure to reduce Cr(Ⅵ)to Cr(Ⅲ).