Leaf‐Mosaic‐Inspired Vine‐Like Graphitic Carbon Nitride Showing High Light Absorption and Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract Green plants use solar energy efficiently in nature. Simulating the exquisite structure of a natural photosynthesis system may open a new approach for the construction of desirable photocatalysts with high light harvesting efficiency and performance. Herein, inspired by the excellent light utilization of “leaf mosaic” in plants, a novel vine‐like g‐C 3 N 4 (V‐CN) is synthesized for the first time by copolymerizing urea with dicyandiamide‐formaldehyde (DF) resin. The as‐prepared V‐CN exhibits ultrahigh photocatalytic hydrogen production of 13.6 mmol g −1 h −1 under visible light and an apparent quantum yield of 12.7% at 420 nm, which is ≈38 times higher than that of traditional g‐C 3 N 4 , representing one of the highest‐activity g‐C 3 N 4 ‐based photocatalysts. This super photocatalytic performance is derived from the unique leaf mosaic structure of V‐CN, which effectively improves its light utilization and affords a larger specific surface area. In addition, the introduction of DF resin further optimizes the energy band of V‐CN, extends its light absorption, and improves its crystallinity and interfacial charge transport, resulting in high performance. It is an easy and green strategy for the preparation of broad‐spectrum, high‐performance g‐C 3 N 4 , which presents significant advancement for the design of other nanophotocatalysts by simulating the fine structure of natural photosynthesis.