Issue 4, 2019

Rare earth element, Sm, modified graphite phase carbon nitride heterostructure for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Photocatalytic nanomaterials of rare earth metal modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) were successfully prepared using a simple hydrothermal ion exchange method. As a high activity photocatalyst, the hydrogen evolution amount of the samarium(III) oxide@nickel sulfide-graphitic carbon nitride (Sm2O3@Ni7S6/g-C3N4) catalyst is nearly 3 mmol g−1 h−1 after visible light irradiation for 3 h, which was much more than the amount obtained using the Ni7S6/g-C3N4 catalyst. The characteristics of Sm2O3@Ni7S6/g-C3N4 were determined using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), fluorescence spectra and so on. The results showed that the deposited Sm2O3@Ni7S6 was uniformly dispersed on the g-C3N4 sheet, and the Sm2O3@Ni7S6 was used as a cocatalyst to improve the electron transfer rate and hydrogen production rate, and reduce the compound rate of electrons and holes in the composite material. There was a strong synergy between Sm2O3@Ni7S6 and g-C3N4, which improved the photocatalytic performance. The UV-vis spectra showed that the absorption range of Sm2O3@Ni7S6/g-C3N4 was enlarged, and the forbidden band width was smaller. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller results showed that Sm2O3@Ni7S6/g-C3N4 had a greater specific surface area and pore volume, which were beneficial for the adsorption of dye molecules and enhanced the photocatalytic activity. Therefore, rare earth metal samarium oxides might be a potential cocatalyst for the design of a new photocatalyst in the photocatalysis field.

Graphical abstract: Rare earth element, Sm, modified graphite phase carbon nitride heterostructure for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Nov 2018
Accepted
06 Dec 2018
First published
07 Dec 2018

New J. Chem., 2019,43, 1716-1724

Rare earth element, Sm, modified graphite phase carbon nitride heterostructure for photocatalytic hydrogen production

L. Li, H. Yu, J. Xu, S. Zhao, Z. Liu and Y. Li, New J. Chem., 2019, 43, 1716 DOI: 10.1039/C8NJ05619F

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