Synergy of nitrogen vacancies and nanodiamond decoration in g-C3N4 for boosting CO2 photoreduction

• Published in: Applied surface science 2022-10, Vol.600, p.154199, Article 154199
• Main Authors: Li, Xinran, Li, Shuohan, Xu, Jian, Wang, Lanxin, Liang, Kaiwei, Zhang, Huihui, Yu, Xuelian, Liu, Zhongwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CO2 reduction; g-C3N4; Nanodiamond; Nitrogen vacancies
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.154199

[Display omitted] •The decoration of g-C3N4 were achieved by in-situ thermal polymerization method.•The introduced nitrogen vacancies enhanced the conduction band position of g-C3N4.•The in-situ decoration of ND expanded the light absorption range.•ND/g-C3N4 (NH) exhibited enhanced CO2 reduction activity and selectivity. Photoconversion of CO2 into fuel is critical for realizing a net-zero emission future, but it remains an open challenge due to the unsatisfactory light absorption and photogenerated carriers’ separation efficiency of catalysts. In this work, upon in situ thermal polymerization method, the nanodiamond (ND) are homogeneously and solidly modified on the defective graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) surface. Under visible light irradiation, the ND/g-C3N4(NH) exhibits excellent CO2 photocatalytic performance with a CO yield of 10.98 μmol/h (18.6 times higher than bulk g-C3N4), predominant performance in the selectivity of CO and cyclic stability. The improved CO2 photoreduction ability was sourced from the synergetic effect of nitrogen vacancies engineering and ND decoration, which also significantly improved visible light absorption capacity and facilitated electron transport pathways, and promoted the separation and transfer of charge carriers efficiently.