Photocatalytic Acetylene Hydrochlorination by Pairing Proton Reduction and Chlorine Oxidation over g-C3N4/BiOCl Catalysts

Abstract

Acetylene hydrochlorination is a vital industrial process for the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). Current thermocatalytic acetylene hydrochlorination requires toxic mercury-based or costly noble metal-based catalysts, high temperatures (≥180 °C) and excessive gaseous HCl. Here, we report a room-temperature photocatalytic acetylene hydrochlorination strategy involving concurrent coupling of electron-driven proton reduction (*H) and hole-driven chloride oxidation (*Cl) on photocatalyst surfaces. Under simulated solar light illumination, the developed noble-metal-free g-C₃N₄/BiOCl photocatalysts show a considerably high VCM production rate of 1198.6 μmol g^–1 h^–1 and a high VCM selectivity of 95% in a 0.1 M HCl aqueous solution. Even in chloride-rich natural seawater and acidified natural seawater, the VCM production rates of g-C₃N₄/BiOCl photocatalysts are up to 170.3 μmol g^–1 h^–1 with a VCM selectivity of 80.4% and 1247.7 μmol g^–1 h^–1 with a VCM selectivity of 94.7%, respectively. Moreover, with sunlight irradiation and acidified natural seawater, the g-C₃N₄/BiOCl photocatalysts in a large-scale photosystem retain outstanding acetylene hydrochlorination performance over 10 days of operation. The radical scavenging, in situ photochemical Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, theoretical simulations, and control experiments reveal that active *Cl and *H play key roles in photocatalytic acetylene hydrochlorination via a possible reaction pathway of C₂H₂ → *C₂H₂ → *C₂H₂Cl → *C₂H₃Cl → C₂H₃Cl. With respect to sustainability and low cost, this photocatalytic acetylene hydrochlorination offers excellent advantages over conventional thermocatalytic hydrochlorination technologies.