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Sulfur Doped Carbon-Rich g-C3N4 for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution: Morphology and Crystallinity Effect

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Abstract

Molecular design for the intercalation of S and C in the framework of g-C3N4 is a promising strategy to increase visible light harvesting and facilitate the separation of photoinduced electron/hole pairs. Herein, we reported a facial method to prepare porous S doped g-C3N4 nanotubes by thermal polymerization of urea and 2-thiobarbituric acid. The obtained catalysts contain certain carbon and sulfur atoms in the aromatic rings substituting the nitrogen atoms in g-C3N4, which narrows down the band gap, and increases the separation of photoinduced charge carriers. Meanwhile, nanotube formation increases the specific surface area of catalyst. The synergistic effect of S doped carbon rich g-C3N4 and nanostructure forming results in superior photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting. The study shows that the photocatalytic H2 evolution is correlated with the crystallinity of S doped g-C3N4.

Graphic Abstract

Schematic illustration for framework of 0.3S-CN and its photocatalytic hydrogen evolution mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51801164), Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (XDJK2020C005), Venture & Innovation Support Program for Chongqing Overseas Returnees (cx2018080).

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  1. School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Dan Long, Lu Wang, Hongyue Cai, Xi Rao & Yongping Zhang

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  1. Dan Long
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Long, D., Wang, L., Cai, H. et al. Sulfur Doped Carbon-Rich g-C3N4 for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution: Morphology and Crystallinity Effect. Catal Lett 150, 2487–2496 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-020-03156-5

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