Incorporation of N-doped reduced graphene oxide into pyridine-copolymerized g-C₃N₄ for greatly enhanced H₂ photocatalytic evolution

Here, we fabricated a pyridine-copolymerized g-C₃N₄ by a novel and cost-effective approach based on Schiff-base chemistry. Thus produced g-C₃N₄ showed significantly enhanced and stable visible-light photocatalytic H₂ evolution performance compared to pristine g-C₃N₄ obtained from urea. Subsequently, we constructed a composite of pyridine-modified g-C₃N₄ and N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) by facile one-pot calcination to elevate the photocatalytic efficiency further. The peak H₂ production rate achieved using this composite was 304 μmol·h^-1, about 11.7 and 3.1 times as those obtained using pure g-C₃N₄ and pyridine-modified g-C₃N₄, respectively. In addition to enhanced visible light absorbance and enlarged surface area, the promoted separation, transfer, and surface reactivity of photogenerated charge carriers by the pyridine ring as intramolecular electron acceptor and N-rGO as “electron-transfer activation region” are considered responsible for the remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity.