In situ growth of crystalline carbon nitride on LaOCl for photocatalytic overall water splitting

Abstract

Photocatalytic overall water splitting is an ideal pathway to store solar energy, and produce clean and sustainable hydrogen fuel. However, exploring photocatalytic materials with high efficiency for overall water splitting remains a challenge. Herein, crystalline carbon nitride (CCN) was in situ grown on LaOCl to improve the performance for overall water splitting. Owing to the enhanced photogenerated carrier transfer by crystalline carbon nitride, and the promoted spatial separation of carriers via the built-in electric field between CCN and LaOCl, the optimized CCN/LaOCl composite catalyzes the decomposition of H₂O into H₂ and O₂, with evolution rates of 60.6 and 28.1 μmol h⁻¹, respectively, prominently surpassing those of most of the reported carbon nitride-based photocatalysts. This work is anticipated to provide new perspectives for the rational design and preparation of CCN-based hybrid photocatalysts for solar water splitting.