Efficient hydrogen evolution from g-C3N4 under visible light by in situ loading Ag2Se nanoparticles as co-catalysts

Abstract

The low charge separation and transfer of g-C3N4 hinders its industrial application in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Here, we design a novel co-catalyst strategy to integrate Ag2Se nanoparticles in situ on the surface of g-C3N4. The optimized photocatalyst, 15% Ag2Se/g-C3N4, demonstrates remarkable photocatalytic efficiency in the hydrogen evolution rate, reaching to 1102.8 μmol·g−1·h−1, 7 times higher than g-C3N4. To further elucidate the photocatalytic activity of 15% Ag2Se/g-C3N4, we present a possible mechanism based on various characterizations and density functional theory calculations. This research offers potential insights for the future development of silver chalcogenide composites in photocatalysis.

Keywords

• Ag2Se nanoparticles
• Co-catalyst
• First-principles calculations
• Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution
• g-C3N4