Bio-inspired carbon doped graphitic carbon nitride with booming photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

In this work, kapok fiber (KF), known as a versatile biomass, has been mixed with melamine to produce carbon modified graphitic carbon nitride (CCN) by one-step pyrolysis. The bio-char ribbon edges formed after the decomposition of KF act as the substrate for the epitaxial growth of CCN. The photocatalytic activity in hydrogen (H2) generation from water splitting has been investigated. Nash Equilibrium from Game Theory has been firstly applied in the analysis of the H2 generation rates among catalysts. The bio-char ribbon edges at the thin CN layers after carbon doping from KF decomposition improve the charge separation and transfer for the surface H2 generation reaction. The CCN exhibits superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and the H2 evolution rate (18.89 μmol/h) is 67.5 times higher than that of the pristine CN (0.28 μmol/h). The apparent quantum yields are calculated to be 4.1%, 1.4%, 0.66% for monochromatic light λ = 420, λ = 470 and λ = 550 nm, respectively.