Surface plasmon resonance excited electron induction greatly extends H₂ evolution and pollutant degradation activity of g‐C₃N₄ under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Abstract Energy crises and environmental pollution have sparked tremendous research work to handle their impacts. Herein, we fabricated Au/g‐C 3 N 4 nanocomposites to produce H 2 and degrade 2,4‐dichlorophenol (2,4‐DCP) under visible light and at different wavelengths. Interestingly, the optimized photocatalyst generated 114 μmol H 2 and degraded 25% 2,4‐DCP in 1 hr as compared with 10 μmol H 2 generation and 8% 2,4‐DCP degradation by pure g‐C 3 N 4 . This improvement is credited to the extended light absorption and improved charge induction from gold to g‐C 3 N 4 even at 590 nm as confirmed from photoluminescence, surface photovoltage, and photoelectrochemical study of the samples. Moreover, the surface catalytic property of g‐C 3 N 4 was much improved after loading a proper amount of gold nanoparticles. We hope that this technique to photosensitize semiconductors with noble metal nanoparticles may provide a feasible way to construct surface plasmon resonance‐assisted photocatalysts to cope with energy crises and environmental pollution simultaneously.