In-Situ Construction of La-B Co-Doped g-C3N4 for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic H2 Production and RhB Degradation

Abstract

Doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been investigated as the visible light photocatalyst for photocatalytic H2 production and organic pollution removal. The elements doping could change the nanostructures, surface composition, and electronic structurescompared to pure g-C3N4. Such changes will provide better light-harvesting, more active sites and enhanced charge separation. In this work, we built the La-B co-doped g-C3N4 by an in-situ growth of g-C3N4 on LaB6. The effect of La-B co-doping on the phase, morphology, light absorption and porous structures is fully characterized to clearly understand the differences in the photocatalytic activities clearly. La and B co-doping introduced defect states and redistribution with suitable redox potentials, benefiting charge separation and photocatalytic reactions. So, the optimal co-doped samples process a higher photocatalytic performance in H2 production and Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation than the pure g-C3N4. The possible valence and conduction band edge positions and photocatalytic mechanism are discussed at last.