TY - JOUR
T1 - Bandgap Engineering of Melon Using Highly Reduced Graphene Oxide for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution
AU - Ashraf, Muhammad
AU - Ali, Roshan
AU - Khan, Ibrahim
AU - Ullah, Nisar
AU - Ahmad, Muhammad Sohail
AU - Kida, Tetsuya
AU - Wooh, Sanghyuk
AU - Tremel, Wolfgang
AU - Schwingenschlögl, Udo
AU - Tahir, Muhammad Nawaz
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2023-09-06
PY - 2023/8/7
Y1 - 2023/8/7
N2 - The uncondensed form of polymeric carbon nitrides (PCN), generally known as melon, is a stacked two-dimensional structure of poly(aminoimino)heptazine. Melon is used as a photocatalyst in solar energy conversion applications, but suffers from a poor photoconversion efficiency due to weak optical absorption in the visible spectrum, high activation energy, and inefficient separation of photoexcited charge carriers. We report experimental and theoretical studies to engineer the bandgap of melon with highly reduced graphene oxide (HRG). Three HRG@melon nanocomposites with different HRG:melon ratios (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) were prepared. The 1% HRG@melon nanocomposite showed a higher photocurrent density (71 μA cm−2) than melon (24 μA cm−2) in alkaline conditions. The addition of a hole scavenger further increased the photocurrent density to 630 μA cm−2 relative to the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). These experimental results were validated by calculations using density functional theory (DFT), which revealed that HRG results in a significant charge redistribution and an improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
AB - The uncondensed form of polymeric carbon nitrides (PCN), generally known as melon, is a stacked two-dimensional structure of poly(aminoimino)heptazine. Melon is used as a photocatalyst in solar energy conversion applications, but suffers from a poor photoconversion efficiency due to weak optical absorption in the visible spectrum, high activation energy, and inefficient separation of photoexcited charge carriers. We report experimental and theoretical studies to engineer the bandgap of melon with highly reduced graphene oxide (HRG). Three HRG@melon nanocomposites with different HRG:melon ratios (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) were prepared. The 1% HRG@melon nanocomposite showed a higher photocurrent density (71 μA cm−2) than melon (24 μA cm−2) in alkaline conditions. The addition of a hole scavenger further increased the photocurrent density to 630 μA cm−2 relative to the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). These experimental results were validated by calculations using density functional theory (DFT), which revealed that HRG results in a significant charge redistribution and an improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/694146
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202301342
U2 - 10.1002/adma.202301342
DO - 10.1002/adma.202301342
M3 - Article
C2 - 37548517
SN - 0935-9648
JO - Advanced Materials
JF - Advanced Materials
ER -