Phosphorus-Doped-Graphitic Carbon Nitride as Efficient Photocatalyst for Improved Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Hydrogen (H2) production plays a crucial role in our pursuit of sustainable future energy solutions. Utilizing durable and affordable materials like graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) holds promise for competent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Optimizing the activity of g-CN includes atomic-level structural alterations by nonmetal doping, which offers active sites within the lattice and modifies the band-gap. In this study, we synthesized a phosphorus-doped graphitic carbon nitride (P@g-CN) photocatalyst using simple strategies, demonstrating its efficacy in water splitting. Our experiments confirm that P@g-CN significantly outperforms pure g-CN in terms of H2 production rate. P-N bonds are introduced to the doped material, which serves as a bridge to transmit electrons, allowing photogenerated electrons to flow more easily and improving charge separation. In addition, the band gap of P@g-CN improves its potential for light absorption and reduction. The capacity of the sample for photocatalytic H2 production rate achieved up to 1302.8 mu mol/g/h, significantly surpassing that of pure g-CN. These results show that atomic-level structure engineering may effectively increase HER activity and provide direction for the development of possible photocatalysts.