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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Phenyl-incorporated carbon nitride photocatalyst with extended visible-light-absorption for enhanced hydrogen
Anna Dai1, Zhenxiong Huang2, Li Tian1
1International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, No. 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China.
Abstract:
Developing and employing photocatalysts with extended visible-light-absorption has emerged as a fundamental issue for the enhanced capability of photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting. Herein, a wide-spectrum light-responsive phenyl-grafted carbon nitride photocatalyst was synthesized. It was found that benzonquanmine-derived g-C3N4 (BCN) exhibits significantly extended light absorption (∼670 nm) compared with conventional melamine-derived g-C3N4 (MCN). Correspondingly, the photocatalytic H2-evolution rate of BCN (2846 μmol h-1 g-1) is five times as that of MCN under visible-light irradiation. Particularly, an impressive H2-evolution rate of 58 μmol h-1 g-1 could be achieved on BCN even under light irradiation beyond 620 nm. The outstanding photocatalytic H2-evolution performance could be not only attributed to the enriched photons generated from the enhanced solar energy harvesting, but also to the distinctly inhibited rapid recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs resulting from the incorporation of phenyl groups. This work furnishes a new train of thought for the designing of carbon-nitride-based photocatalysts with enhanced capability of visible-light-utilization.
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