Improving the photocatalytic hydrogen production of Ag/g-C3N4 nanocomposites by dye-sensitization under visible light irradiation

Jiayi Qin; Jingpei Huo; Piyong Zhang; Jian Zeng; Tingting Wang; Heping Zeng

doi:10.1039/C5NR06346A

Improving the photocatalytic hydrogen production of Ag/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites by dye-sensitization under visible light irradiation†

Jiayi Qin,^a Jingpei Huo,^b Piyong Zhang,^b Jian Zeng,^a Tingting Wang^b and Heping Zeng*^ab

* Corresponding authors

^a Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
E-mail: hpzeng@scut.edu.cn
Fax: +86-20-87112631
Tel: +86-20-87112631

^b State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Molecules, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China

Abstract

Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of g-C₃N₄ by a chemical reduction method to increase visible-light absorption via the localized surface plasmon resonance effect, resulting in the reduced recombination of photo-generated electron–holes and enhanced photocatalytic activity. The Ag/g-C₃N₄ composite with a Ag loading of 3 wt% has the optimum photoactivity that is almost 3.6 and 3.4 times higher than pure g-C₃N₄ and the same photocatalysis system which has been reported, respectively. Fluorescein was introduced as a photosensitizer and H₂ evolution soared to 2014.20 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ and the rate is even about 4.8 times higher than that of the 3 wt% Ag/g-C₃N₄ composite. The chemical structure, composites, morphologies and optical properties of the obtained products are well-characterized by XRD, FTIR, TEM, EDS, XPS and UV-Vis DRS. Meanwhile, the photocatalyst exhibits high stability and reusability.

This article is part of the themed collection: Editor’s Choice: Nanomaterials for catalysis

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5NR06346A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 15 Sep 2015
Accepted: 17 Dec 2015
First published: 24 Dec 2015

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Nanoscale, 2016,8, 2249-2259

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Improving the photocatalytic hydrogen production of Ag/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites by dye-sensitization under visible light irradiation

J. Qin, J. Huo, P. Zhang, J. Zeng, T. Wang and H. Zeng, Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 2249 DOI: 10.1039/C5NR06346A

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