Porous carbon nitride nanotubes efficiently promote two-electron O2 reduction for photocatalytic H2O2 production

Supramolecular self-assembly was used to synthesize uniform porous carbon nitride nanotubes successfully. The large specific surface area and superior electron transport performance are provided by nanotube structures. The temperature programmed desorption (TPD) test and the density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicate that porous carbon nitride nanotubes show a significant adsorption of O 2 . At the same time, the rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments demonstrate that the porous carbon nitride nanotubes improved the selectivity of 2e - oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) (60% vs . 90%, 0.3 V vs . RHE) greatly. Consequently, the yield of H 2 O 2 by porous carbon nitride nanotubes (93.89 μmol/L) is 2.4 times more than that of the original carbon nitride. Therefore, this research provides a feasible strategy for designing photocatalytic materials with high 2e - ORR selectivity. Supramolecular self-assembly was used to successfully synthesize uniform porous carbon nitride nanotubes. Large specific surface area and superior electron transport performance are provided by nanotube structures. The O 2 temperature programmed desorption (TPD) test and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results show that porous carbon nitride nanotubes have a high adsorption effect on O 2 . At the same time, the rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments demonstrates that the porous carbon nitride nanotubes greatly improved the selectivity of 2e - oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) (60% vs . 90%, 0.3 V vs . RHE). Consequently, the H 2 O 2 yield of porous carbon nitride nanotubes (93.89 μM/L) is 2.3 times more than that of the original carbon nitride. Therefore, this research provides a feasible strategy for designing photocatalytic materials with high 2e - ORR selectivity. • Supramolecular self-assembly was used to synthesize uniform porous carbon nitride nanotubes. • The porous nanotube structure enhances the O 2 adsorption and increases the selectivity of 2e - ORR. • The 1 D tubular structure and abundant amino groups facilitate the separation of electrons and holes, thus exhibit excellent H 2 O 2 production.