Constructing a nickel complex/crystalline carbon nitride hybrid with a built-in electric field for boosting CO2 photoreduction

Yanrui Li; Linda Wang; Bozhan Li; Liangqing Zhang; Xiaolin Zhu; Xiang Gao

doi:10.1039/d4nr03586k

Constructing a nickel complex/crystalline carbon nitride hybrid with a built-in electric field for boosting CO₂ photoreduction

Nanoscale. 2024 Dec 19;17(1):407-417. doi: 10.1039/d4nr03586k.

Authors

Yanrui Li¹, Linda Wang¹, Bozhan Li¹, Liangqing Zhang¹, Xiaolin Zhu², Xiang Gao³

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710054, China. [email protected].
² Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
³ College of Geology and Environment, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710054, China. [email protected].

PMID: 39564890
DOI: 10.1039/d4nr03586k

Abstract

Sluggish charge separation dynamics resulting from the amorphous structure and the lack of driving force for graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) limits its highly effective CO₂ photoreduction performance. Herein, a built-in electric field (BEF) was constructed for a well-designed CCN/Ni hybrid composed of crystalline carbon nitride (CCN) and a metal complex, 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid NiBr₂ (dcabpyNiBr₂), to steer charge carrier separation and migration. The CCN/Ni hybrid was synthesized via a solution-dispersion and molten-salt two-step approach, displaying an improved CO₂ photoreduction to CO rate of 8.64 μmol g^-1 h^-1. In situ experimental results and theoretical simulations further investigated the relationships between BEF and photocatalytic activity. This work demonstrates an effective strategy to obtain high-efficiency photocatalytic systems by engineering the crystal structure and constructing a BEF.