Boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for enhanced visible light photocatalytic water splittingElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7dt00933j

• Main Authors: Thaweesak, Supphasin, Wang, Songcan, Lyu, Miaoqiang, Xiao, Mu, Peerakiatkhajohn, Piangjai, Wang, Lianzhou
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/c7dt00933j

A new type of boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride (B-g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets was prepared by a benign one-pot thermal polycondensation process. Systematic studies revealed that a B-doping amount of 1 at% into g-C 3 N 4 (1at%B-g-C 3 N 4 ) showed the best photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity of 1880 μmol h −1 g −1 under visible light irradiation (>400 nm), which is more than 12 times that of the pristine g-C 3 N 4 bulk. Detailed characterizations revealed that the high photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the combination of band structure engineering and morphological control. B-doping not only reduces the band gap to absorb more visible light but also exhibits a higher surface area of B-g-C 3 N 4 (49.47 m 2 g −1 ) as compared to that of g-C 3 N 4 bulk (8.24 m 2 g −1 ), which subsequently improve the photocatalytic performance drastically. This work demonstrates a synergistic strategy to prepare efficient metal-free B-g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets as a promising photocatalyst for H 2 evolution under visible light with good stability. A new type of boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride (B-g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets was prepared by a benign one-pot thermal polycondensation process.