Hexagonal boron nitride composite photocatalysts for hydrogen production

With the consumption of fossil, it is crucial to develop alternative energy. Hydrogen has gained increasing interest owing to its recyclability and environmental friendly. Recently, many researchers have tried using porous boron nitride (BN) as the co-catalyst to enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production from water. In this mini-review, we summarize these recent advances, and show how to employ porous BN for photocatalytic hydrogen production. The role of BN in BN based photocatalysts is discussed in depth. The photocatalytic mechanisms of doped BN, BN based mixtures and BN based heterojunctions are studied. We highlighted some typical research for the enhanced absorbance of visible light enabled by narrowing bandgap using defect engineering first, and then we summarized the Z-scheme heterojunctions coupling BN with semiconductors, which could improve the photocatalytic activity of semiconductors due to their surface charge transfer properties. At last, we end this mini-review by concerning more strategies for BN based heterostructures. We believe that this review will be helpful for the developments of novel and sustainable BN based heterostructures with greater activities in many environmental and energy-related fields. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.