AUTHOR=Zada Amir , Khan Muhammad , Qureshi Muhammad Nasimullah , Liu Shu-yuan , Wang Ruidan 

TITLE=Accelerating Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production and Pollutant Degradation by Functionalizing g-C3N4 With SnO2

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2019.00941

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2019.00941

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Energy crises and environmental pollution are two serious threats to modern society. To overcome these problems, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>) nanosheets were fabricated and functionalized with SnO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles to produce H<sub>2</sub> from water splitting and degrade 2-chlorophenol under visible light irradiation. The fabricated samples showed enhanced photocatalytic activities for both H<sub>2</sub> evolution and pollutant degradation as compared to bare g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> and SnO<sub>2</sub>. These enhanced photoactivities are attributed to the fast charge separation as the excited electrons transfer from g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> to the conduction band of SnO<sub>2</sub>. This enhanced charge separation has been confirmed by the photoluminescence spectra, steady state surface photovoltage spectroscopic measurement, and formed hydroxyl radicals. It is believed that this work will provide a feasible route to synthesize photocatalysts for improved energy production and environmental purification.</p>