Article Title

Supramolecular precursor strategy for the synthesis of holey graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance

Authors

Xiaoshuai Wang, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Chao Zhou, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Run Shi, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Qinqin Liu, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Lizhu Wu, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Chen-Ho Tung, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Tierui Zhang, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Keywords

graphitic carbon nitride, holey nanotubes, photocatalysis, visible-light response, hydrogen evolution

Abstract

A simple one-step thermal polymerization method was developed for synthesis of holey graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes, involving direct heating of mixtures of melamine and urea or melamine and cyanuric acid in specific mass ratios. Supramolecular structures formed between the precursor molecules guided nanotube formation. The porous and nanotubular structure of the nanotubes facilitated efficient charge carrier migration and separation, thereby enhancing photocatalytic H2 production in 20 vol.% lactic acid under visible light irradiation. Nanotubes synthesized using melamine and urea in a 1:10 mass ratio (denoted herein as CN-MU nanotubes) exhibited a photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 1,073.6 µmol·h−1·g−1 with Pt as the cocatalyst, a rate of 4.7 and 3.1 times higher than traditional Pt/g-C3N4 photocatalysts prepared from graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) obtained by direct thermal polymerization of melamine or urea, respectively. On the basis of their outstanding performance for photocatalytic H2 production, it is envisaged that the holey g-C3N4 nanotubes will find widespread uptake in other areas, including photocatalytic CO2 reduction, dye-sensitized solar cells and photoelectrochemical sensors.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2357-0

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Xiaoshuai Wang,Chao Zhou,Run Shi,Qinqin Liu,Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse,Lizhu Wu,Chen-Ho Tung,Tierui Zhang, Supramolecular precursor strategy for the synthesis of holey graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. NanoRes.2019, 12(9): 2385–2389