High-energy ball-milling constructing P-doped g-C3N4/MoP heterojunction with Mo N bond bridged interface and Schottky barrier for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution

The critical prerequisite for realizing the industrial application of photocatalytic technology lies on developing efficient photocatalyst through reasonable and large-scale modification strategy. Herein, the rapid and solvent-free high-energy ball-milling procedure was adopted to modify graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) on a large-scale by phosphorus (P) atom doping and molybdenum phosphide (MoP) decorating. It is confirmed that P doping can introduce a mid-gap state in the band gap of g-C3N4, broadening the light responsive region and enhancing the electrical conductivity of g-C3N4. The MoN bond at the interface of P-doped g-C3N4 and MoP acting as electrons “delivery channels” facilitates the charge transfer from P-doped g-C3N4 to MoP, while the Schottky barrier promotes the separation of photocarriers. As a result, the optimized P-doped g-C3N4/MoP photocatalyst performs an improved H2 evolution rate of 4917.83 μmol·g−1·h−1 and a favorable H2 production stability. This work offers a replicable prototype on adopting high-energy ball-milling to modify photocatalyst.