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Understanding the roles of carbon in carbon/g-C3N4 based photocatalysts for H2 evolution

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Abstract

Coupling graphitic carbon nitride (CN) with carbonaceous materials is an effective strategy to improve photocatalytic performance, but the contributions of carbonaceous materials are not fully understood. Herein, a new type of carbon/CN (CCN) complex photocatalyst is synthesized with a 6-fold enhancement of H2 evolution rate compared to that of pristine CN. The role of carbon in photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction is systemically studied and it is experimentally and theoretically revealed that carbon mainly contributes to the improved capability of exciton dissociation and enhanced electric conductivity for charge transfer, leading to an increased population of photo-carriers for photocatalytic reactions. Interestingly, the enhanced light absorption originated from carbon barely generates charge carriers for H2 evolution activity. These new findings will inspire the rational design of carbon-based photocatalysts for efficient solar fuel production.

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Acknowledgement

The financial support from Australian Research Council (ARC) through the Discovery and Laureate Fellowship programs is greatly acknowledged. The authors would like to express their appreciations for the support from the Australian National Fabrication Facility-Queensland Node (ANFF-Q) and the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (CMM) from the University of Queensland. The support from the Centre of Advanced Imaging is also highly appreciated. M. X. would like to express her gratitude for the financial support from the Australian Government through the Research Training Program Scholarship.

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Author notes

  1. Yalong Jiao

    Present address: Present address: Faculty for Chemistry and Food Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01069, Dresden, Germany

  2. Songcan Wang

    Present address: Present address: Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Shaanxi Institute of Flexible Electronics & Shaanxi Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, West Youyi Road, **’an, 710072, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanomaterials Centre, School of Chemical Engineering and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Mu **ao, Bin Luo, Songcan Wang, Peng Chen, Miaoqiang Lyu & Lianzhou Wang

  2. School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, QLD, 4000, Australia

    Yalong Jiao & Aijun Du

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  1. Mu **ao
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Correspondence to Bin Luo or Lianzhou Wang.

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**ao, M., Jiao, Y., Luo, B. et al. Understanding the roles of carbon in carbon/g-C3N4 based photocatalysts for H2 evolution. Nano Res. 16, 4539–4545 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3897-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3897-7

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