WC_1−x‐Coupled 3D Porous Defective g‐C₃N₄ for Efficient Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

Constrained by the limited visible light harvesting and high photogenerated electron‐hole pair recombination rate, pristine g‐C 3 N 4 typically possesses poor overall water splitting behavior under visible light. To achieve efficient overall water splitting of g‐C 3 N 4 without the assistance of precious metals, herein, a WC 1−x ‐coupled 3D porous defect g‐C 3 N 4 is constructed through simple one‐step pyrolysis. Due to the introduction of platinum‐like WC 1‐x , the effective heterogenization of WC 1−x /g‐C 3 N 4 greatly improves the charge separation. In the meanwhile, the 3D multiple microstructures established by the self‐protocol of ultrathin 2D g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets enhance the light absorption efficiency and optimize the separation of photoexcited carriers. Significantly, the generation of nitrogen defects is capable of bringing about an optimized band structure. Based on those modifications, a significant photocatalytic overall water splitting capacity under visible light is obtained without the sacrificial agent by the prepared 3D WC 1−x /g‐C 3 N 4 , in which the simultaneous evolution of H 2 and O 2 was up to 84.1 and 41.7 µmol h −1 g −1 , respectively.