A non-noble metal photocatalyst CoP/g-C 3 N 4 with high efficiency for hydrogen evolution under visible light

A non-noble metal photocatalyst CoP/g-C3N4 with high efficiency was prepared by loading transition metal phosphide CoP tightly on the surface of non-noble metal g-C3N4 using the improved impregnation method. The surface of g-C3N4 is tightly loaded by CoP, and the electrons can be separated and transferred effectively, so as to effectively improve the performance of g-C3N4 photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. When CoP is 5% in CoP/g-C3N4, the photocatalytic activity of hydrogen evolution is the highest, and the yield of hydrogen production reached an amazing 375 μmol h−1g−1, while g-C3N4 was only 35 μmol h−1g−1. Moreover, CoP/g-C3N4 has excellent stability for hydrogen production. The photocatalytic reaction mechanism of CoP/g-C3N4 is also proposed.