Simultaneous Loading of Ni₂P Cocatalysts on the Inner and Outer Surfaces of Mesopores P‐Doped Carbon Nitride Hollow Spheres for Enhanced Photocatalytic Water‐Splitting Activity

Abstract

Promoting charge separation, constructing active sites, and improving the utilization of metal atoms are very important for the design of efficient photocatalysts. A simultaneous loading of Ni2P cocatalysts on the inner and outer surfaces of mesoporous P‐doped carbon nitride hollow nanospheres (PCNHS) to construct a Ni2P@PCNHS@Ni2P photocatalyst is reported. Ni2P cocatalysts loading provides enough active sites on both the inner and outer surfaces for proton reduction, and the formed heterojunctions simultaneously promote the migration and separation of the photogenerated charges on the inner and outer surfaces. The photocatalytic reaction proceeds simultaneously on the inner and outer surfaces of Ni2P@PCNHS@Ni2P, which leads to a significantly improved photocatalytic water splitting performance and enhanced atomic utilization. Notably, the hydrogen evolution rate of Ni2P@PCNHS@Ni2P is 2.4 times higher than that of Pt‐loaded PCNHS. The findings guide the design of hollow nanostructured composites with high‐boosting photocatalytic performance.

Construction of a hierarchical BiOBr/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunction for selective photocatalytic CO2 reduction towards CO

“…Design and fabrication of CN with a hollow architecture has been proven to be an effective approach for improving its catalytic performance. 13–15 The hollow structure enhances light harvesting through light scattering/reflection and provides a large accessible surface area for reactant adsorption. Although some encouraging achievements have already been reported, overcoming slow charge-transfer kinetics and insufficient redox capacity remains challenging.…”