Recent progress on the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction over a metal sulfide cocatalyst-mediated carbon nitride system

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry frontiers 2024-04, Vol.11 (9), p.2527-2552
• Main Authors: Huang, Xunhuai, Song, Junpeng, Wu, Guanyu, Miao, Zhihuan, Song, Yanhua, Zhao, Mo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nitride; Carrier recombination; Electronic structure; Gibbs free energy; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Metal sulfides; Noble metals; Photocatalysis
• ISSN: 2052-1545; 2052-1553
• DOI: 10.1039/d4qi00255e

Under the dual background of energy and environment, the use of precious metal-free carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for photocatalytic H2 evolution has attracted the attention of scientific researchers. Nonetheless, bulk g-C3N4 suffers from serious drawbacks, such as severe photo-generated carrier recombination and scarcity of active sites. Among numerous modification strategies, cocatalyst loading can extract photogenerated charges, provide effective active sites, and reduce reaction activation energy, thus obtaining better catalytic efficiency. Metal sulfides (MSs) are one of the materials that have replaced precious metals as cocatalysts in recent years owing to their unique electronic structure, low cost, and Gibbs free energy close to Pt. As a result, it is imperative to examine the research advancements in the MS/g-C3N4 system. In this paper, the structure and properties of g-C3N4 are reviewed, and the mechanism and role of a cocatalyst binding to g-C3N4 are discussed. Next, typical MS cocatalysts, including their modification strategies and loading techniques, are introduced. Finally, the article discusses the main issues and future research directions for MS/g-C3N4 systems. In conclusion, this review can enhance our comprehension of the correlation between g-C3N4 and cocatalysts, offering more efficient insights for the development of alternative MS cocatalysts.