Amino modulation on the surface of graphitic carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

Bulk graphitic carbon nitride suffers from the disadvantages of a small specific surface area, high recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, and low surface catalytic activity, which greatly limits its application in catalytic reactions. In this study, amino groups were incorporated into the structure of bulk carbon nitride by solvothermal treatment facilitated by an optimal content of urea. The experimental data suggested that the introduced amino groups modified the morphology and structure of bulk carbon nitride, and improved the charge separation. More importantly, the enriched amino groups promoted the formation of nitrogen-rich carbon nitride, which was conducive to the deposition and reduction of ultrafine Pt nanoparticles. The resulting Pt/g-C3N4 composite exhibited excellent visible-light-driven activity for hydrogen evolution. A high rate of 410.51 μmol h−1 with an apparent quantum efficiency of 17 % was achieved, which is 85.5 times higher than that of bulk carbon nitride. The effective approach developed in this work could provide new insights into the design of bulk carbon nitride with enhanced performance.