Abstract
Solar-light-driven N-doped 3C–SiC powder was synthesized via a simple one-step combustion route. SiC–N2 photocatalysts exhibited 205.3 μL/(g·h) hydrogen evolution rate, nearly 2 times that of SiC–Ar(120.1 μL/(g·h)), and was much higher than that of SiC nanowires (83.9 μL/(g·h)), SiC nanoparticles (82.8 μL/(g·h)) as well as the B-doped SiC photocatalysts(166 μL/(g·h)). In cyclic tests, N-doped SiC also performed excellent photocatalytic durability and good structural stability. It can be concluded that the influence of N-doping introduced defects into the SiC photocatalyst by occupation and mixed phase structure, transformed the band structure into the direct band gap, and formed a shallow donor level for trapping holes. Consequently, higher photocatalytic activities and lower recombination was achieved. Furthermore, the carbon on the photocatalyst which was yielded from the substitution of N or which remained after combustion would build constructed efficient interfacial contact with SiC for the quickening of light-driven electron transfer to the surface, and simultaneously strengthen the adsorption capacity and light-harvesting potential.
Highlights
Confronted with the dual pressures of a resource crisis and environmental pollution, the sustainable development and use of clean energy has become a hot issue [1]
For the N-doped sample, the intensities of the peaks mentioned above decrease; the characteristic peaks of graphite
The photocatalytic H2 -production measurement was performed in Labsolar-6 A system (Perfectlight Technology, Beijing, China), which consisted of a 300 mL Pyrex glass reaction cell connected to a closed gas circulation and evacuation system
Summary
Confronted with the dual pressures of a resource crisis and environmental pollution, the sustainable development and use of clean energy has become a hot issue [1]. Silicon carbide (SiC) had an appropriate and tunable band gap (2.4–3.2 eV) [8] and a relatively negative conduction band position for visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. It exhibits high charge-carrier mobility, excellent thermal and chemical stability, and is environmentally friendly and abundant in low-cost raw materials [9]. The strategy in this work provides a widely used reference for SiC-based systems to improve related photocatalysis
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