Metal free nanocomposite of graphitic carbon nitride, boron nitride and chitosan for efficient evolution of hydrogen: A strategic approach to achieving sustainable and effective electrocatalysis

The most successful approaches for increasing the efficiency of hydrogen production mainly focus on the use of proficient and reasonable catalysts. Currently, close attention is required to achieve stable and highly effective catalysts without involving noble metals for the conversion of energy with the help of electrocatalytic reactions. Herein, green and sustainable metal-free graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) strategically integrated with boron nitride (BN) and chitosan (Ct) (g-C3N4/BN@Ct nanocomposite) has been used as a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The nanocomposite was prepared by simple ultrasonication method and characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis.), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman, High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The result of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis reveals that the g-C3N4/BN@Ct/GCE enhances the electronic conductivity. The as-synthesized nanomaterial shows good stability (20 h) and excellent HER performance with respect to lower overpotential of ∼ 520 mV and Tafel slope of 150 mV dec−1. Owing to the simple synthetic process and outstanding electrocatalytic performance of the nanocomposite, this study is of great importance for clean energy production.