Heterojunction of WO3 Particle and g-C3N4 Nanowire for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Heterojunction construction with suitable band level alignment and nanostructure formation are the effective ways to improve the photocatalytic activity. Herein, WO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposites are synthesized by calcining the mixture of WO3 particles and g-C3N4 nanowires at nitrogen atmosphere at 550 degrees C for 2 h. The composite catalysts can effectively inhibit the combination of photogenerated electron/hole pairs, promote the harvest of visible light, and increase the specific surface area, thus enhancing the photocatalytic activity of H-2 evolution. The optimal photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 0.10WO-CN composite under visible light (lambda>420 nm) reaches 21.64 mu mol/h, which is about 7.5 times of the pure phase CN (2.86 mu mol/h). Due to the synergistic effect between the interface of WO3 particles and g-C3N4 nanowires, the photocatalytic performance of WO3/g-C3N4 composites has been improved significantly.