Direct Growth of Carbon Nitride (C₃N₃) Nanosheets on Copper Foam as an Efficient Catalytic Electrode for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution

In this work, carbon nitride (C₃N₃) nanosheets are directly synthesized on copper foam via a solvent-free vapor-solid phase reaction. Electrochemical measurement results indicate that C₃N₃ nanosheets achieve outstanding electrocatalytic performances with low overpotential (142 mV@10 mA cm⁻²) and small Tafel slope (75.5 mV dec⁻¹), which are superior to most metal-free hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts in acid medium reported so far. In addition, the electrocatalytic performances of C₃N₃ nanosheets are further slightly improved under simulated solar irradiation. What's more, the synthetic strategy of C₃N₃ nanosheets could be extended to other substance system. More importantly, our impressive work was expected to inspire more potential researches in the future.