Engineering of g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts to enhance hydrogen evolution

The technology of photocatalytic hydrogen production that converts abundant yet intermittent solar energy into an environmentally friendly alternative energy source is an attractive strategy to mitigate the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), as a promising photocatalyst, has gradually received focus in the field of artificial photosynthesis due to its appealing optical property, high chemical stability and easy synthesis. However, the limited light absorption and massive recombination of photoinduced carriers have hindered the photocatalytic activity of bare g-C₃N₄. Therefore, from the perspective of theoretical calculations and experiments, many valid approaches have been applied to rationally design the photocatalyst and ameliorate the hydrogen production performance, such as element doping, defect engineering, morphology tuning, and semiconductor coupling. This review summarized the latest progress of g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts from two perspectives, modification of pristine g-C₃N₄ and interfacial engineering design. It is expected to offer feasible suggestions for the fabrication of low-cost and high-efficiency photocatalysts and the photocatalytic mechanism analyses assisted by calculation in the near future. Finally, the prospects and challenges of this exciting research field are discussed.