Diethylenetriamine-CdS hybrid materials (CdS-DETA) loaded nitrogen-rich carbon nitride (g-C3N5) for enhanced hydrogen production and photocatalytic degradation: Enhancement based on band bending

Abstract

The proper design of photocatalysts is essential to improving photocatalytic decomposition of water and degradation of pollutants. In this work, we used nitrogen-rich carbon nitride with high electronic properties combined with CdS-DETA to generate CdS-DETA@g-C3N5 composite, and diethylenetriamine (DETA) was used to enhance the band bending to enable the excellent photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst. The hydrogen evolution rate (14.23 mmol/(g·h)) of the CdS-DETA@g-C3N5 composite is 7.1, 7.5, and 4.5 times higher than that of g-C3N5 (2.03 mmol/(g·h)), 20CSCN5 (1.89 mmol/(g·h)), and CdS-DETA (3.17 mmol/(g·h)), and the OFLX degradation rate (95.6 %) is 3.4 and 1.5 times higher than that of g-C3N5 and CdS-DETA, respectively. These performance enhancements result from the enhancement of energy band bending, the construction of a built-in electric field (IEF), and the retention of high redox carriers. This work provides new insights into the design of nitrogen-rich carbon nitride-based photocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic degradation and hydrogen precipitation activity.