Different strategies to improve photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) semiconductor nanomaterials for hydrogen generation

The field of semiconductor nanomaterial modification has made great strides and has the potential to be applied to photocatalytic water splitting, which produces hydrogen. As graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a well-known and environmentally friendly photocatalyst that provides a revolutionary response to pressing hydrogen energy production. But still, the low efficiency of g-C3N4 due to its fast rate of recombination and relatively low surface area restrict to adsorb visible light. Hence, recent research mainly focuses on to develop different strategies to improve the photocatalytic activities of g-C3N4. This review highlights a number of strategies employed to enhance the photocatalytic functionality of g-C3N4 including morphologies control, metal doping and nonmetals elements, heterojunctions generation and more. The process of producing hydrogen with g-C3N4 based semiconductor materials is also discussed. A look ahead at new developments and trends is included, along with challenges like quantum efficiency and charge carrier recombination. In the end, this review presents g-C3N4 as a potential step towards a more sustainable future and a sustainable game-changer in the area of hydrogen energy generation.