Markedly enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2 generation over g-C3N4 nanosheets decorated by robust nickel phosphide (Ni12P5) cocatalysts.

In the present work, nickel phosphide (Ni12P5) modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets were synthesized by a simple grinding method. The structural characterization clearly proved that Ni12P5 nanoparticles were well loaded on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets. The photocatalytic activity of the composites was tested by catalyzing the reduction of water to hydrogen under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrate that Ni12P5 is an efficient co-catalyst for photocatalytic H2 production of g-C3N4 nanosheets. The maximum photocatalytic H2-production rate of 126.61 μmol g-1 h-1 could be obtained by loading 2.0% Ni12P5 nanoparticles on the surface of g-C3N4, which is about 269.4 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4. It is believed that Ni12P5 nanoparticles on the surface of g-C3N4 could act as significant active sites to boost separation of photoexcited electrons and holes and accelerate the H2-evolution kinetics, thus achieving greatly enhanced hydrogen generation. It is expected that this work could contribute to further experimental investigation for exploiting the low cost, high-efficiency, and environmentally friendly g-C3N4-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic H2 production.