Role of C<i>_x</i>N<i>_y</i>‐Triazine in Photocatalysis for Efficient Hydrogen Generation and Organic Pollutant Degradation Under Solar Light Irradiation

Abstract

A critical drawback of existing materials, which restricts the photocatalytic efficiency, is the fast recombination of charge carriers. To address this challenge, loading reduction and oxidation co‐catalysts on two opposite surfaces of a hollow semiconductor is a critical approach to improve the photocatalytic performance. These co‐catalysts mainly act as oxidation and reduction active sites, while suppressing the charge recombination. Moreover, the development of a novel and efficient co‐catalyst that boosts charge separation is a very important feature for the photocatalytic performance. Herein, we report the first synthesis of hollow Pt/TiO 2 /C x N y ‐triazine nanocomposite using carbon colloidal spheres as a hard template, in which Pt and C x N y ‐triazine are located on the two opposite hollow surfaces. C x N y ‐based triazine species formed from cyanamide during calcination do not only stabilize the hollow structure and significantly enhance the surface area of Pt/TiO 2 /C x N y ‐triazine, but also act as an efficient oxidation co‐catalysts. This new type of nanocomposite exhibits one of the best TiO 2 ‐based photocatalysts working under solar light irradiation to date. It is 125 and 62 times higher than that of Pt/TiO 2 –P25 for hydrogen generation and methanol decomposition, respectively.