A general strategy to synthesize single-atom metal-oxygen doped polymeric carbon nitride with highly enhanced photocatalytic water splitting activity

Abstract

Polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) is a prospective photocatalyst in water splitting to produce H2, but its overall water splitting (OWS) activity is suppressed by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a general strategy involving electrostatic adsorption of oxometallate anions on protonated amorphous melon was proposed to synthesize single-atom metal-oxygen doped PCN (MO-PCN). MO-PCN exhibits highly enhanced photocatalytic OER and thereby OWS activity, benefitting from the MO structure functioning as OER active centers and enhancing photoexcited charge separation by introducing hole-trapping doping levels in bandgaps. This work provides a universal strategy to enhance OER activity of PCN-based photocatalysts.