Paper Publications
Cobalt embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon cocatalyst interfaced with g-C3N4 for optimized photocatalytic hydrogen production
Release Time:2025-10-17
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Journal:
Materials Today Energy
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Key Words:
CN, CoNC, Co sites, cocatalyst, photocatalytic H2 production
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Summary:
The photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution performance of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) named as CN is mainly limited by poor charge separation and low surface catalytic activity. To address these challenges, we report composite photocatalysts by integrating CN with cobalt embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon (CoNC) cocatalyst termed as CN/CoNC-X via a tailored pyrolysis strategy using urea and zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) precursors. In this work, CoNC serves as an efficient cocatalyst, where Co sites facilitate abundant surface-active sites for H2 production, while the NC framework enhances conductivity and promotes charge transport at the interfacial surface. The firm interface between CN and CoNC creates intrinsic electronic interactions that accelerate the flow of electrons from CN and hinder charge carrier recombination. The optimal CN/CoNC-5 composite achieves an optimized H2 production rate of 1794.1 μmol h-1 g-1 under visible-light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), which is nearly 6.1-fold greater than bare CN (292.4 μmol h-1 g-1). In addition, the optimal designed photocatalyst demonstrates stable H2 production over four consecutive reaction cycles under visible-light illumination for up to 16 hours. This significant enhancement confirms the crucial role of the CoNC cocatalyst in tuning charge carrier dynamics and improving surface catalytic efficiency.
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First Author:
Ikram Ullah
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Correspondence Author:
Pei Zhao,Ning Qin,An-Wu Xu
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All the Authors:
Risheng Duan,Jina Gao,Shuai Chen,Jing-Han Li,Muhammad Amin,Jing Sun
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Indexed by:
Journal paper
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Document Code:
102096
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Volume:
54
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Impact Factor:
8.6
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Translation or Not:
No
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Date of Publication:
2025-10
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Included Journals:
SCI
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Links to Published Journals:
