A synergism between Schottky junction and interfacial P-Ni bond for improving the hydrogen evolution of 2D/2D NiS/Phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst

Abstract

The engineering and synthesis of g-C3N4-based photocatalysts with high utilization rate of charge carriers and extensive visible light responsiverange is pivotal to alleviate the energy crisis. Herein, inosculating P-doped g-C3N4 with NiS (NPCN) via the calcination-solvothermal method to establish 2D/2D Schottky-junction with interfacial P-Ni bond photocatalyst can achieve high-efficiency hydrogen production upon exposure to visible light, the 2-NPCN displays superior photocatalytic H2-release ability up to 299.6 μmol in the absence of cocatalysts, which is approximately 53.3 times higher than that of BCN (5.6 μmol). Not only that, the apparent quantum efficiency (AQE)of the reconstructed material is 11.7% at 420 nm. Noticeably enhanced photocatalytic HER activities accrue from the fact thatP-doped g-C3N4 can shorten the band gap for widening the visible light responsiverange, and the synergistic effect of Schottky-junction and P-Ni chemical bond can increase the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs and efficiently ameliorating the charge transfer dynamics. Moreover, the 2D/2D structure with large and tight contact interfaces can decrease the charge migration distance. In this work, the 2D/2D NPCN Schottky-junction photocatalyst reasonably designed provides a meaningful case for meeting the requirements for high-efficiency hydrogen production driven by solar energy.