The high photocatalytic efficiency and stability of LaNiO3/g-C3N4 heterojunction nanocomposites for photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen

Abstract A binary direct Z-scheme LaNiO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalyst consisted with LaNiO3 nanoparticles and g-C3N4 nanosheets was successfully synthesized by means of mechanical mixing and solvothermal methods in order to improve the photocatalytic water splitting activity. The as-prepared m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Changyu Ye, Rui Wang, Haoyu Wang, Fubin Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-10-01
Series:BMC Chemistry
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13065-020-00719-w
Description
Summary:Abstract A binary direct Z-scheme LaNiO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalyst consisted with LaNiO3 nanoparticles and g-C3N4 nanosheets was successfully synthesized by means of mechanical mixing and solvothermal methods in order to improve the photocatalytic water splitting activity. The as-prepared materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and N2 adsorption–desorption experiments, respectively, demonstrating the formation of interfacial interaction and heterogeneous structure in LaNiO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposites. Under UV-light irradiation, the LaNiO3/g-C3N4 samples which without the addition of any noble metal as co-catalyst behaved enhanced photocatalytic water splitting activity compared with pure LaNiO3 and g-C3N4, owing to the Z-scheme charge carrier transfer pathway. Especially, the LaNiO3/70%g-C3N4 nanocomposite reach an optimal yield of up to 3392.50 µmol g−1 in 5 h and held a maximum H2 evolution rate of 678.5 µmol h−1 g−1 that was 5 times higher than that of pure LaNiO3.
ISSN:2661-801X