Advanced bi-functional CoPi co-catalyst-decorated g-C3N4 nanosheets coupled with ZnO nanorod arrays as integrated
Chang Liu1, Pengcheng Wu, Keliang Wu
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan/Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region/Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, PR China. lzyongclin@sina.com hjuan05@sina.com.
Abstract:
In this work, a CoPi-decorated type II heterojunction composed of one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) coated with two-dimensional (2D) carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was successfully prepared and used as photoanode. CoPi has been speculated to be a mixture of amorphous compound and two cobalt-based compounds: Co3(PO3)6·14H2O and Co(H2PO2)2·6H2O. The advanced bi-functional CoPi acts like a shelter, effectively inhibiting the photocorrosion of CNNS/ZnO NRAs and providing a faster hole transfer channel. Synergistic effects at the interface of the heterojunction efficiently improve the separation of charge carriers from photoexcited g-C3N4 nanosheets to the ZnO nanorods. Photocurrent density is also greatly enhanced by loading CoPi on CNNS/ZnO NRAs heterojunction. The maximum photocurrent density (2.45 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE) generated from CoPi(10)-CNNS(600)/ZnO nanorods is about 10.2 times greater than that of pristine ZnO nanorods (0.24 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE) and 2.5 times higher than that of CNNS(800)/ZnO (0.95 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE). The further increase of photoelectrocatalytic performance may be attributed to CoPi relieving the charge accumulation at the semiconductor/electrolyte, which decreases the electron-hole recombination rate.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Advanced Functional Groups
Functional groups are groups of atoms with specific chemical properties that occur within organic molecules and are sometimes denoted as “R”. Functional groups can “functionalize” a compound by enabling it to adopt different physical and chemical properties.
Types of Advanced Functional Groups
The table below summarizes some of the major functional groups in organic chemistry.
Genome Copying Errors
Integration of Rational Functions Using Partial Fractions
Applications of Integration to Probability Density Functions
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...


