Tailoring TiO Nanotube-Interlaced Graphite Carbon Nitride Nanosheets for Improving Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance.

Rapid recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs is one of the major defects in graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN)-based photocatalysts. To address this issue, perforated ultralong TiO nanotube-interlaced g-CN nanosheets (PGCN/TNTs) are prepared via a template-based process by treating g-CN and TiO nanotubes polymerized hybrids in alkali solution. Shortened migration distance of charge transfer is achieved from perforated PGCN/TNTs on account of cutting redundant g-CN nanosheets, leading to subdued electron-hole recombination. When PGCN/TNTs are employed as photocatalysts for H generation, their in-plane holes and high hydrophilicity accelerate cross-plane diffusion to dramatically promote the photocatalytic reaction in kinetics and supply plentiful catalytic active centers. By having these unique features, PGCN/TNTs exhibit superb visible-light H-generation activity of 1364 µmol h g (λ > 400 nm) and a notable quantum yield of 6.32% at 420 nm, which are much higher than that of bulk g-CN photocatalysts. This study demonstrates an ingenious design to weaken the electron recombination in g-CN for significantly enhancing its photocatalytic capability.