Modification of g-C₃N₄ with hydroxyethyl cellulose as solid proton donor via hydrogen bond to enhance H₂O₂ production

Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) is used as a solid proton donor to modify graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) via non-covalent bonds to improve H₂O₂ production performance. The modified g-C₃N₄ (CN/HEC) is prepared by stirring the suspension of g-C₃N₄ and HEC at room temperature and drying. The H₂O₂ production efficiency of CN/HEC is 3.89 times that of g-C₃N₄. Both experimental results and density functional theory calculations (DFT) suggest charge transfer from HEC to g-C₃N₄ and hydrogen bond formation between HEC and g-C₃N₄. CN/HEC possesses higher charge separation efficiency than g-C₃N₄. Stability test, XPS, FTIR, and DFT analyses suggest that HEC acts as a proton donor. The synergy of charge separation enhancer and proton donor from HEC promotes the sequential two-step single-electron O₂ reduction for H₂O₂ production. This study explores a way to utilize cellulose material as solid proton donors to modify g-C₃N₄ via hydrogen bonds under mild conditions for increased H₂O₂ production performance.