Porous carbon nitride nanotubes efficiently promote two-electron O2 reduction for photocatalytic H2O2 production

Abstract

Supramolecular self-assembly was used to synthesize uniform porous carbon nitride nanotubes successfully. The large specific surface area and superior electron transport performance are provided by nanotube structures. The temperature programmed desorption (TPD) test and the density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicate that porous carbon nitride nanotubes show a significant adsorption of O2. At the same time, the rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments demonstrate that the porous carbon nitride nanotubes improved the selectivity of 2e- oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) (60% vs. 90%, 0.3 V vs. RHE) greatly. Consequently, the yield of H2O2 by porous carbon nitride nanotubes (93.89 μmol/L) is 2.4 times more than that of the original carbon nitride. Therefore, this research provides a feasible strategy for designing photocatalytic materials with high 2e- ORR selectivity.