Embedding of stereo molecular scaffold into the planar g-C₃N₄ nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under ordinary pressure

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), as an organic polymer semiconductor, has been the focus of photocatalysts due to its physical and chemical stability, low cost and non-toxicity. However, pristine g-C₃N₄ also has many drawbacks, such as small specific surface area and easy recombination of photoexcited carriers, which hampered its practical application. In this work, we first propose a design idea of embedding stereo molecular scaffold into g-C₃N₄ framework with a facile copolymerization method for better exfoliating g-C₃N₄ to reach a better photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under ordinary pressure. The stereo molecular scaffold looses the interlayer stacking of bulk g-C₃N₄, benefitting the exfoliation of g-C₃N₄. The hydrogen evolution activity of stereo molecular scaffold doped g-C₃N₄ (AMCN-3-E) is about 7.54 times higher than that of the pristine MCN, which may due to the activated π → π* and n → π* electron transitions, creating more electron transition paths and accelerating the separation of photoexcited electrons and holes.