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

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.