Accelerating NADH oxidation and hydrogen production with mid-gap states of nitrogen-rich carbon nitride photocatalyst
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Toshali Bhoyar1, Dong Jin Kim2, B Moses Abraham3
1Materials and Catalysis Laboratory, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur 440010, India.
Abstract:
Regeneration of electron carriers such as NAD+/NADH is highly desirable and essential for enzymatic conversions. Here, we demonstrate a sustainable strategy for the regeneration of NAD+ as an electron carrier via photon-assisted heterogeneous catalysis. For this, a mid-gap state induced nitrogen-rich polymeric carbon nitride (NPCN) catalyst was synthesized by an additive-assisted thermal copolymerization. Utilizing NPCN as a photocatalyst presented NADH photooxidation efficiency of over 98% and a high hydrogen production rate of 11.18 mmolg-1h-1 with an apparent quantum yield of 9.16% (λ = 420 nm), outperforming other state-of-art metal-free photocatalysts. The experimental and theoretical simulations suggest that mid-gap states in NPCN catalyst are main platform for charge-carrier separation that enhances the overall photocatalytic performance.
Related Concept Videos
Role of Reduced Coenzymes NADH and FADH₂
Catalysis
The Z-Scheme of Electron Transport in Photosynthesis
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs
Electron Carriers
Over the many stages of cellular respiration, glucose breaks down into carbon dioxide and water. Electron carriers pick up electrons lost by glucose in these reactions, temporarily storing and releasing them into the electron...
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...

