A Novel Dual-Channel Carbon Nitride Homojunction with Nanofibrous Carbon for Significantly Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production

Abstract

Photocatalytic H₂O₂ synthesis (PHS) via graphite carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) is a low-carbon and environmentally friendly approach, which has garnered tremendous attention. However, as for the pristine g-C₃N₄, the PHS is severely constrained by the slow transfer and rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers. Herein, we introduced cellulose-derived carbon nanofibers (CF) into the homojunction of g-C₃N₄ nanotubes (MCN) and g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (SCN). A series of photocatalytic results demonstrate that the embedding of cellulose-derived carbon for MCN/SCN/CF composite catalyst significantly improved the photocatalytic H₂O₂ generation (136.9 μmol·L⁻¹·h⁻¹) with 5-holds higher than that of individual MCN (27.5 μmol·L⁻¹·h⁻¹) without any sacrificial agent. This enhancement can be attributed to the combined effects of the two-step one-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on conduction band (CB) side and the water oxidation reaction (WOR) on valence band (VB) side. A comprehensive characterization of the mechanism indicates that CF enhances the absorption of light, promotes the separation and migration of photogenerated carriers, and regulates the position of the valence and conduction bands with an effective dual-channel ORR pathway for photo-synthesis of H₂O₂. This work provides valuable insights into utilizing biomass-based materials for significantly boosting photocatalytic H₂O₂ production.

Keywords

Carbon nitride / Homojunction / Nanofibrous carbon / Photocatalytic H₂O₂ production

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Funding

Natural Science Foundation of Fujian(2022J01144); State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering(202218); Natural Science Foundation of Shandong(ZR2021MC035); Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students(X202310389326); State Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing Technologies(FZ2022009)