Co_xP/Hollow Porous C₃N₄as Highly Efficient Schottky Contact Photocatalyst for H₂Evolution from Water Splitting

Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting to obtain hydrogen energy can transform low-density solar to high density, new and clean energy in a clean way, which is one of the ideal ways to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this paper, The Co x P/hollow porous C 3 N 4 composite photocatalytic material was synthesized by simple methods. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of Co x P/hollow porous C 3 N 4 reaches 1602 μmol g À 1 h À 1 , which is 151 times of that of pure C 3 N 4 . The reasons for the high photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity of Co x P/hollow porous C 3 N 4 could be summarized as follows: (1) the hollow and porous structure of C 3 N 4 shows higher light capture efficiency, larger specific surface area and more surface active sites. (2) metalloid Co x P loaded forms the Schottky contact with C 3 N 4 , which improves the photogenerated charges separation efficiency of C 3 N 4 , prolongs the photogenerated charges lifetime and improves the photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity of C 3 N 4 . (3) The higher conductivity of metalloid Co x P and the lower overpotential of hydrogen production are other reasons for the higher activity of photocatalytic hydrogen production of Co x P/hollow porous C 3 N 4 . This work provides an important role for the design of efficient, stable, and efficient construction of photocatalysts for solar energy conversion.