Abstract
The alarming energy crises has forced the scientific community to work for sustainable energy modules to meet energy requirements. As for this, ZnO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with proper heterojunction were fabricated by coupling a proper amount of ZnO with 2D graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets and the obtained nanocomposites were applied for photocatalytic hydrogen generation from water under visible light illumination (λ > 420 nm). The morphologies and the hydrogen generation performance of fabricated photocatalysts were characterized in detail. Results showed that the optimized 5ZnO/g-C3N4 nanocomposite produced 70 µmol hydrogen gas in 1 h compare to 8 µmol by pure g-C3N4 under identical illumination conditions in the presence of methanol without the addition of cocatalyst. The much improved photoactivities of the nanocomposites were attributed to the enhanced charge separation through the heterojunction as confirmed from photoluminescence study, capacity of the fabricated samples for •OH radical generation and steady state surface photovoltage spectroscopic (SS-SPS) measurements. We believe that this work would help to fabricate low cost and effective visible light driven photocatalyst for energy production.
Funding source: Natural Science Foundation of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: 51802267
Funding source: Key Industrial Chain Project of Shaanxi Province
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2019ZDLGY16-06
Funding source: Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Award Identifier / Grant number: 3102019TS0411
Funding source: Science and Technology Plan Project from Xi’an
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2019218314GXRC019CG020-GXYD19.5
Funding source: China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2020M673475
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (51802267), the Key Industrial Chain Project of Shaanxi Province (2019ZDLGY16-06), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3102019TS0411), the Science and Technology Plan Project from Xi’an (2019218314GXRC019CG020-GXYD19.5) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M673475).
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no competing interests statement.
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