Enhanced photocatalytic water splitting of g-C3N4 loaded with Fe doped Co3O4 and Pt dual-cocatalysts

Abstract

Dual cocatalysts play an important role in photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen production. In this paper, Fe-doped Co3O4 (Fe-Co3O4) and Pt were loaded on the surface of g-C3N4 to enhance the water photocatalytic splitting, in which Fe-Co3O4 was used as an oxidation cocatalyst to capture the photo-generated holes of g-C3N4, and Pt was used as a reduction cocatalyst to transfer photo-generated electrons. Under the irradiation of visible light, its hydrogen production rate reaches up to 3.015 mmol g−1 h−1, which is 3.01 times higher than that of g-C3N4 loaded with Pt. Pt and Fe-Co3O4 dual cocatalysts not only promote the migration rate of photo-generated electrons and holes on the surface of g-C3N4, but also improve the light absorption capacity of visible light. The interfacial electric field built from the p-n heterojunction of Fe-Co3O4/g-C3N4 drives photo-generated electrons in Fe-Co3O4 flowing to the holes of g-C3N4, which further inhibiting the recombination of g-C3N4 photo-generated carriers. This work provides a reference for the development of high-efficiency photocatalyst and an effective support for the development of semiconductor cocatalyst.