Schiff‐base‐rich g‐C _<i>x</i> N ₄ supported PdAg nanowires as an efficient Mott–Schottky catalyst boosting photocatalytic dehydrogenation of formic acid

Abstract

Abstract Developing an efficient photocatalyst, catalyzing formic acid (FA) dehydrogenation, can satisfy the demand of the H 2 energy. Herein, a graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C x N 4 )‐based nanosheet ( x = 3.2, 3.6 or 3.8) with melem rings conjugated by Schiff‐base bond (N=C–C=N) was synthesized, tuning the bandgaps ( E g ) of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) in the range of 1.8 &lt; E g &lt; 2.7 eV, and grown PdAg nanowires (NWs) on its surface forming an efficient PdAg NWs/g‐C x N 4 Mott–Schottky heterojunction for enhancing dehydrogenation photocatalysis of FA. The boosting photocatalysis benefits from the Schiff‐base bond tuning the E g of g‐C 3 N 4 and strongly coupling from the heterojunction. Among the heterojunction, the Pd 5 Ag 5 NWs/g‐C 3.6 N 4 exhibits the best dehydrogenation photocatalysis of FA [turnover frequency (TOF) = 1230 h −1 ] under visible light ( λ &gt; 400 nm) without any additive at 25 °C, which is the best value among ever‐reported ones. This work provides a new strategy to boost dehydrogenation photocatalysis of FA, which will be promising for practical application of H 2 in future energy field.