Activating Carbon Nitride by BP@Ni for the Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Selective Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation
Min Wen, Na Yang, Jiahong Wang, Danni Liu, Wenchao Zhang, Shi Bian, Hao Huang, Xingchen He, Xin Wang, Seeram Ramakrishna, Paul K. Chu, Shihe Yang, Xue‐Feng Yu
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are promising photocatalysts; in order to overcome the relatively low efficiency of single-component 2D photocatalysts, heterostructures are fabricated for effective charge separation. Herein, a 2D heterostructure is synthesized by anchoring nickel nanoparticle-decorated black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets to graphitic carbon nitride (CN) nanosheets (CN/BP@Ni). The CN/BP@Ni heterostructure exhibits an enhanced charge separation due to the tight interfacial interaction and the cascaded electron-transfer channel from CN to BP and then to Ni nanoparticles. Possessing abundant active sites of Ni and P–N coordinate bonds, CN/BP@Ni shows a high visible-light-driven H2 evolution rate of 8.59 mmol·h–1·g–1 with the sacrificial agent EtOH, about 10-fold to that of CN/BP. When applying benzyl alcohol to consume photogenerated holes, CN/BP@Ni enables the selective production of benzaldehyde; therefore, two value-added products are obtained in a single closed redox cycle. This work provides new insights into the development of photocatalysts without non-noble metals.