Herein, a heterostructure of P‐doped g‐C3N4 combined with varying amounts of cobalt‐based metal‐organic framework ZIF67 has been designed to enhance water splitting green hydrogen production. Innovation of the work lies… Click to show full abstract
Herein, a heterostructure of P‐doped g‐C3N4 combined with varying amounts of cobalt‐based metal‐organic framework ZIF67 has been designed to enhance water splitting green hydrogen production. Innovation of the work lies in the dual incorporation of non‐metal phosphorous and ZIF67 into g‐C3N4 to design a novel heterostructure with an improved light absorption, charge separation and active surface area which resulted in an enhanced photocatalytic efficiency under comparatively lower‐intensity visible light and natural sunlight irradiation. A series of characterizations, were performed and the results showed the well dispersed ZIF67 polyhedrons on the P‐doped g‐C3N4 lamellar bulk structure, with an increased active surface area and better charge separation efficacy. The optimized composite with a band gap of 2.2 eV showed enhanced light harvesting capacity with a maximum H2 evolution rate of 2249.54 μmol g‐1 in 4 h under 100 W visible light using 1.0 g/L catalyst concentration, which is nearly five times the rate achieved with pristine g‐C3N4. The engineered material also revealed good recyclability with a hydrogen generation rate of 1502.7 μmol g‐1 after four consecutive cycles, henceforth reflecting good stability. This research offers a new perspective and foundation for designing highly stable, energy efficient composite photocatalysts for green hydrogen production.
               
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