Facile Electrospinning Synthesis of Carbonized Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/g‐C₃N₄ Hybrid Films for Photoelectrochemical Applications

Abstract

The film-forming ability and conductivity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 )a re still unsatisfying, despite much progressh aving been made in g-C 3 N 4 -related photocatalysts. Newm ethods for synthesizingg -C 3 N 4 films coupled with excellent conductive materials are of significance. Herein,afacile method for synthesizingn ovel carbonized polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/g-C 3 N 4 (C PVP /g-C 3 N 4 )f ilms have been developed through an electrospinning technique. Nanocarbonsa re generated by in situ carbonization of PVP in the films, which could enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of the films due to its good conductivity. The coverage of the C PVP /g-C 3 N 4 filmi sg ood and the films exhibit excellent PEC performance. Furthermore, the thickness of the films can be adjusted by varying the electrospinning time and substantially controlling the PEC performance, of which the photocurrentdensitiesunder visible-light irradiation are 3.55, 4.92, and 6.64 mAcm À2 with spinning times of 40, 70, and 120 min, respectively.T he photocurrent does not decreaseu ntil testinga t4 000 sa nd the coverage is still good after the tests,w hich indicates the good stabilityo f the films. The excellent PEC performance of the films and facile preparation method enables promising applicationsin energya nd environmental remediation areas.

Electrospinning Preparation of Nanostructured g-C3N4/BiVO4 Composite Films with an Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance

“…6) as analysed previously, the crystallinity of BiVO 4 is not very good due to the low calcination temperature at 400 o C; while the g-C 3 N 4 will be burned off at the high temperature at 500 o C. Thus the optimal calcination temperature was 450 o C. In addition, the electrospinning time also affect the photocurrent response of the films, since the thickness is related to the photocurrent responses of the films and the thickness increases with electrospinning time increasing. 4 As shown in Fig. 11D, the photocurrent densities were 0.36, 0.26, 0.25 and 0.14 mA/cm 2 respectively for the films with the electrospinning time of 40, 60, 20 and 10 min.…”

“…3 Meanwhile, the semiconductor photocatalysts are coated on the FTO glass, thus saves the process for extra separation and reclaim for the conventional suspension dispersive photocatalysts. 4 The photoelectrode is crucial in the photoelectrochemical system. 5,6,7 The semiconductors with suitable band gap width to absorb visible light are attractive to be used as the photoelectrode.…”

Carbon Nitride Materials for Water Splitting Photoelectrochemical Cells

“…[59] Thel iquid-phase alternative involves the polymerization and condensation on the surface of the conductive substrate. [39] Successful methods of deposition of ex situ synthesized CN (always after an exfoliation step) include the application of electrophoretic deposition (EPD), [60] electrospinning (PVP/CN hybrid [61] or BiVO 4 /CN [6] ), and different casting techniques (spin-coat, [62] dip-coat, [63] doctor-blading, [64] and the like [65] ). Them ain difficulty of the casting methods is achieving af inal film that is both uniform and with good contact to the substrate.T his is hindered by the lateral variation of large aggregated CN particles leading to poor inter-particle contact as well as boundary defects.…”

“…Successful methods of deposition of ex situ synthesized CN (always after an exfoliation step) include the application of electrophoretic deposition (EPD), electrospinning (PVP/CN hybrid or BiVO 4 /CN), and different casting techniques (spin‐coat, dip‐coat, doctor‐blading, and the like). The main difficulty of the casting methods is achieving a final film that is both uniform and with good contact to the substrate.…”

Kohlenstoffnitridmaterialien für photochemische Zellen zur Wasserspaltung

“…[59] Die Flüssigphasen-Alternative beinhaltet Polymerisation und Kondensation auf der Oberfläche des leitfähigen Substrats. [39] Erfolgreiche Verfahren zur Abscheidung von ex situ synthetisiertem CN (stets nach einem Exfoliationsschritt) umfassen die Anwendung einer elektrophoretischen Abscheidung (EPD), [60] Elektrospinnen (PVP/CN-Hybrid [61] oder BiVO 4 /CN [6] )s owie verschiedene Beschichtungstechniken (Schleuderbeschichten, [62] Tauchbeschichten, [63] Rakeln [64] und ähnliche Verfahren [65] ). Die Hauptschwierigkeit der Beschichtungsverfahren besteht darin, einen endgültigen Film zu erhalten, der sowohl gleichfçrmig ist als auch innigen Kontakt mit dem Substrat aufweist.…”