Simultaneously tuning electronic reaction pathway and photoactivity of P, O modified cyano-rich carbon nitride enhances the photosynthesis of H2O2

Abstract

The photocatalytic production H2O2 performance is mainly limited by the low photoactivity and the low 2e- oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) selectivity. In this work, the cyano-rich carbon nitride with P, O modified (CNOP) was synthesized, which benefits from enhanced optical activity, improved 2e- ORR selectivity (40% vs. 90%) and regulated the electronic reaction pathway for the generation of H2O2. The best performance of CNOP is 17 times that of CN under visible light and still maintains the high H2O2 production when the wavelength reaches 550 nm (98.8 μΜ h−1). DFT calculations show that CNOP not only benefits O2 adsorption but also greatly the energy barrier for the production of the key intermediate (OOH*). This study provides a simple method to simultaneously tune optical activity, 2e- ORR selectivity and electronic reaction pathway for the efficient production H2O2.