The influence of band bending phenomenon on photocatalytic Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction: The case of AgPd alloy nanoparticles supported on graphitic carbon nitride

Abstract

The development of solar-powered systems for applications other than energy, such as photocatalytic organic reactions, will benefit in the resolution of environmental issues while also lowering production costs. In this study, the photocatalytic activity of g-CN(G)-AgPd, which was prepared by synthesizing AgPd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) on g-CN, was investigated in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling (SMC) reaction. The photocatalytic activity of g-CN(G)-AgPd in an ethanol/water mixture at ambient temperature was discovered to be among the highest ever recorded. Under vis-light illumination, g-CN(G)-AgPd converted all of the aryl iodides and most of the aryl bromides investigated to desired coupling products in 15 min with excellent isolated yields, and it was used at least five times without significantly losing its activity. It was discovered that g-CN(G)-AgPd has significantly higher photocatalytic activity than other g-CN(X)-AgPd (X: U, T, M) Schottky junctions. This exceptional photocatalytic performance was rationalized by considering the depletion layer width, which influences the Schottky barrier properties of the nanocomposite as well as charge carrier dynamics. This study may serve as a guideline for the development of more active g-CN-based photocatalysts for SMC reactions, highlighting the effect of depletion layer width on the efficiency of the Schottky barrier.