Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), despite its visible-light response and suitable band structure, has been considered incapable of overall water splitting without added organics. This study identifies the bottleneck as accumulated C=O bonding at the H2O/g-C3N4 interface. Fluorination minimizes this bonding, resulting in a significantly improved H2 evolution rate and continuous O2 evolution. DFT calculations suggest an optimized oxygen evolution reaction pathway on neighboring N atoms due to C-F interaction, avoiding excessively strong C-O or weak N-O interactions.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Nov 16, 2022
Authors
Ji Wu, Zhonghuan Liu, Xinyu Lin, Enhui Jiang, Shuai Zhang, Pengwei Huo, Yan Yan, Peng Zhou, Yongsheng Yan
Tags
graphitic carbon nitride
water splitting
fluorination
hydrogen evolution
oxygen evolution
DFT calculations
C=O bonding
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