Boosting photocatalytic H2 generation by effective proton shuttle and hydrogen activation on AgBr-loaded g-C3N4

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have driven great interest due to a large specific surface area to volume ratio and adjustable surface behaviors, which show huge potentials for enhancing the activity of energy conversion and property optimization. In order to regulate the physicochemical properties of photocatalyst for water splitting reaction, defect engineering on 2D materials have drawn great attention. Meanwhile, a widely used strategy to improve the H2 evolution rate kinetics has been achieved. In this paper, we prepared AgBr/g-C3N4 catalyst by chemical precipitation. The obtained photocatalyst shows a unique charge transfer pathway. In addition, a deep understanding of the proton shuttle during H2 evolution reactions can offer profound opinion into heterostructure construction and property optimization. It is found that the enhanced performance is correlated to the superiority of the S-scheme heterojunction and defect engineering on graphitic carbon nitride 2D materials. This work offers a novel method for improving efficiency in terms of energy conversion and property optimization.