Converting CO2 into fuels by graphitic carbon nitride-based photocatalysts

A metal-free photocatalyst, graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) with a moderate band gap catering for visible-light excitation, shows amazing potential in various photocatalytic applications. Carbon dioxide reduction using diversified photocatalysts has been attracting increasing public attention and the extensively studied GCN is one of the most promising photocatalysts. However, because of the low concentration and high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers, and some other disadvantages of the pristine GCN photocatalyst, the solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency is too low for practical use. Modifications or optimizations of GCN are therefore important to enhance its CO2 photocatalytic conversion performance. This review summarizes the research progress made during the past five years on GCN-based photocatalysts in two main areas, which includes pristine GCN and its molecular modifications, and heterostructure composite photocatalysts based on GCN, for CO2 reduction. It is expected that this review may benefit the development of GCN-based photocatalysts for CO2-to-fuel conversion.