Carbon doped honeycomb-like graphitic carbon nitride for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Carbon doped honeycomb-like graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) was prepared by one-step thermal polymerization, which derived from chitosan as a carbon source together with the melamine-cyanuric acid complex as a supramolecular precursor. Interestingly, the carbon doped g-C₃N₄ displayed an increased specific surface area and a more negative conduction band energy level, which not only provided a large number of reaction sites for the photocatalytic hydrogen production, but also effectively enhances the separation of photogenerated electrons-holes. And the experimental results showed that the hydrogen evolution rate of the optimal sample was as high as 320 μmol·h^-1, which is 29.10 times than that of bulk g-C₃N₄ (11 μmol·h^-1). More importantly, this work may provide a promising idea for the design of efficient g-C₃N₄ by controlling the material morphology and combining the electronic modulation strategy.