Homogenous Boron-doping in Self-sensitized Carbon Nitride for Enhanced Visible-light Photocatalytic Activity

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal an Asian journal, 2016-11, Vol.11 (22), p.3169-3173
• Main Authors: Gu, Quan, Liu, Jianni, Gao, Ziwei, Xue, Can
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: boron doping; Carbon; Chemistry; dye sensitization; graphitic carbon nitride; hydrogen generation; photocatalysis
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.201601201

We report a solvothermal approach for the preparation of homogeneously B‐doped self‐sensitized carbon nitride (B‐SSCN) composed of a core of B‐doped carbon nitride microspheres and a covalently linked shell of s‐triazine oligomers. Compared to the undoped structure, the obtained B‐SSCN photocatalyst exhibits an enhanced visible‐light activity, excellent stability for photocatalytic hydrogen generation due to a reduced band‐gap, enhanced charge‐separation efficiency, and better surface reactivity of B‐SSCN. This work provides a new strategy to uniformly insert heteroatoms into the polymeric carbon nitride framework for the development of metal‐free photocatalysts towards efficient production of solar fuels. A positive doping case: Homogeneously B‐doped self‐sensitized carbon nitride (B‐SSCN) composed of a core of B‐doped carbon nitride microspheres and a covalently linked shell of s‐triazine oligomers were prepared by a solvothermal method. Compared to the undoped structure, the obtained B‐SSCN photocatalyst exhibits enhanced visible‐light activity for photocatalytic H2 generation due to a reduced band‐gap, improved charge separation, and better surface reactivity.