Carbon Vacancy Mediated Incorporation of Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub> Quantum Dots in a 3D Inverse Opal g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Schottky Junction Catalyst for Photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Production
Sufen Lin, Ning Zhang, Fuchen Wang, Juying Lei, Liang Zhou, Yongdi Liu, Jinlong Zhang
Abstract
Photocatalytic H2O2 production is an environmentally friendly and sustainable production technique. Here, we fabricate the Ti3C2 quantum dot-modified defective inverse opal g-C3N4 (TC/CN) via a facile electrostatic self-assembly method. The resultant catalysts greatly facilitate the photocatalytic H2O2 production. The optimum H2O2 yield on TC/CN-20 reaches 560.7 μmol L–1 h–1, which is 9.3 times higher than that of bulk CN under visible light irradiation. This enhancement is attributed to the direction-induced bonding between carbon vacancies in g-C3N4 and TCQDs. The formation of a Schottky junction in the interface further realizes spatial separation of electron and holes, effectively avoiding the recombination of the charge carriers at defect sites. Therefore, this work not only constructs a high-performance photocatalyst for H2O2 production with outstanding yield and long-term recyclability but also develops a direction-induced bonding synthetic method and explores the functionary mechanism of defect sites in the Schottky junction for photocatalytic H2O2 production.