Surface plasmon resonance excited electron induction greatly extends H 2 evolution and pollutant degradation activity of g‐C 3 N 4 under visible light irradiation

• Published in: Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society (Taipei) Vol. 67; no. 6; pp. 983 - 989
• Main Authors: Zada, Amir, Ali, Nauman, Ateeq, Muhammad, Huerta‐Flores, Ali M., Hussain, Zahid, Shaheen, Shabana, Ullah, Mohib, Ali, Sharafat, Khan, Imran, Ali, Wajid, Shah, Muhammad Ishaq Ali, Khan, Waliullah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-06-2020
• ISSN: 0009-4536; 2192-6549
• DOI: 10.1002/jccs.201900398

Abstract
Energy crises and environmental pollution have sparked tremendous research work to handle their impacts. Herein, we fabricated Au/g‐C
3
N
4
nanocomposites to produce H
2
and degrade 2,4‐dichlorophenol (2,4‐DCP) under visible light and at different wavelengths. Interestingly, the optimized photocatalyst generated 114 μmol H
2
and degraded 25% 2,4‐DCP in 1 hr as compared with 10 μmol H
2
generation and 8% 2,4‐DCP degradation by pure g‐C
3
N
4
. This improvement is credited to the extended light absorption and improved charge induction from gold to g‐C
3
N
4
even at 590 nm as confirmed from photoluminescence, surface photovoltage, and photoelectrochemical study of the samples. Moreover, the surface catalytic property of g‐C
3
N
4
was much improved after loading a proper amount of gold nanoparticles. We hope that this technique to photosensitize semiconductors with noble metal nanoparticles may provide a feasible way to construct surface plasmon resonance‐assisted photocatalysts to cope with energy crises and environmental pollution simultaneously.