In situ synthesis of Cu3P/g-C3N4 heterojunction with superior photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The low-cost and high-efficient Cu3P/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was prepared through one-step in situ solvothermal approach. The characterization results proved that Cu3P nanoparticles with high purity and good crystallinity were uniformly embedded on the g-C3N4 nanosheets. The maximal H-2 evolution rate can be enhanced to 4909.9 mol . g(-1) . h(-1), which is 71.1 times higher than bare g-C3N4. The markedly photocatalytic H-2 production was mainly because of increased active sites and the intimate contact interfaces by in situ growth of Cu3P nanoparticles on g-C3N4 nanosheets, which greatly boost the separation and transport of photo-induced electro-hole pairs. The enhanced mechanism was proposed and verified by the photoluminescence spectra, transient photocurrent responses and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results. This one-step solvothermal synthesis paves a new way for in situ construction of highly efficient transition metal phosphides/carbon nitride photocatalyst and application of photocatalytic splitting water system.