Novel g-C₃N₄/CoO Nanocomposites with Significantly Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity for H₂ Evolution

Abstract

Novel g-C 3 N 4 /CoO nanocomposite application for photocatalytic H 2 evolution were designed and fabricated for the first time in this work. The structure and morphology of g-C 3 N 4 /CoO were investigated by a wide range of characterization methods. The obtained g-C 3 N 4 /CoO composites exhibited more-efficient utilization of solar energy than pure g-C 3 N 4 did, resulting in higher photocatalytic activity for H 2 evolution. The optimum photoactivity in H 2 evolution under visible-light irradiation for g-C 3 N 4 /CoO composites with a CoO mass content of 0.5 wt % (651.3 μmol h –1 g –1 ) was up to 3 times as high as that of pure g-C 3 N 4 (220.16 μmol h –1 g –1 ). The remarkably increased photocatalytic performance of g-C 3 N 4 /CoO composites was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of the junction or interface formed between g-C 3 N 4 and CoO.