Nitrogen Vacancy‐Induced Deposition of Pd Nanoparticles onto g‐C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> with Greatly Improved Photocatalytic Activity in H<sub>2</sub> Evolution
Yuan Yao, Guangmin Ren, Zizhen Li, Hongcun Bai, Xiude Hu, Xiangchao Meng
Abstract
C 3 N 4 exhibits excellence in photocatalytic water splitting. However, some hindrances should be overcome before its wide application. Herein, nitrogen vacancies (NVs) are successfully introduced in C 3 N 4 . As‐fabricated NVs act as targets to induce the deposition of Pd nanoparticles (NPs). Photocatalytic activity in H 2 evolution for C 3 N 4 is improved from none to 10.12 μmol h −1 g cat −1 in the presence of NVs, and to 287.94 μmol h −1 g cat −1 with the modifications of both NVs and Pd NPs. The great improvement may be due to that: 1) the formation of NVs can drive up the Fermi level and optimize the band structure of C 3 N 4 ; 2) the addition of the impure energy level of NV within the bandgap expands the utilization of the solar spectrum; 3) Pd NPs with the surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) effect are capable of absorbing more visible‐light photons; and 4) Pd acts as a reservoir of photogenerated charge carriers, suppressing its recombination. The mechanism of the enhancements is explored in detail and comprehensively discussed in this work.