Tuning of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for photocatalysis: A critical review

The positive feedback mechanism resulting from the exponentially increasing population leads to high energy demands, additional resource utilization, and debilitating nature, making the earth an unsustainable habitat for living. The resulting increase in global temperature, also leads to an increased carbon footprint, creating a chain of events called loop functioning or positive feedback chain. The renewable energy-driven water splitting and generation of hydrogen, which is further used as a clean fuel, serves as a sustainable route for satisfying the over enhanced energy demand and also helps in reducing the global carbon footprint by minimizing the resulting emission. The recent advancement in the photo catalytic systems, especially introduction of advance photocatalysts in the last decade, serves the path more enviably. The photocatalysts involved in the process of hydrogen production and using renewable energy as a driving force, especially solar energy, should remain unaltered. The desired changes in the catalytic activity, separation and conveying of charges at its surface are further catalysed by the solar energy. With technological advancement, novel and cost-effective hydrogen production mechanisms are evolving. This search for a cheaper, effective and sustainable photocatalyst material, which effectively splits the water molecules into desirable hydrogen isotopes is the need of the hour to sustain the ever growing energy demands. And in all this pursuit, a metal-free, suitable bandgap energy, cost-effective and 2D structured compound known as graphitic carbon nitride (GCN or g-C 3 N 4 ) serves as a potential contender by effective splitting and efficient production of hydrogen. But GCN, even having so much potential, undergoes some challenges such as high density of defects, required surface area and desirable stability that restrict its photocatalytic activity and resulting water splitting efficiency. The present review addresses the latest trends in the composition variabilities in GCN that helps in increased splitting efficiency, doping with metallic particles, heterojunction formation in semiconductors, pore size-perviousity changes, modulation of the bandgap, control of defects and alteration in the surface area. This review also highlights the peak development and changes in the design and morphology of GCN under larger surface area performance and corresponding advancements in hydrogen production. Although not all renewable energy sources are considered; in this review, the photocatalytic production of hydrogen using the solar energy-driven channel is the primary highlight. Further, the concluding portion of this review helps the readers/scientific community to get a clear idea about photocatalytic hydrogen production and its derived routes, which also serve as an inoculum for future studies in the same domain. Scheme 1. Schematic represents the advantages of using a graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst and its application for hydrogen production by water splitting. • A non-metallic photocatalyst for energy-rich hydrogen production. • Enhanced performance of GCN by surface modifications and structural changes. • Non-oxidative atmosphere for the production of GCN from organics. • Single-layer mesoporous GCN showing enhanced light-harvesting performance. • Water splitting using GCN photocatalyst under visible irradiance for sustainable hydrogen production. 

Photocatalytic hydrogen production using graphitic carbon nitride (GCN): A precise review

As climate change accelerates, finding clean alternatives to fossil fuels is more urgent than ever. Therefore, green hydrogen has been introduced as a means of high-intensity energy storage medium for surplus renewable electricity and could be a critical enabler of the global transition to sustainable and net zero emissions energy future. Considering this, the proposed study discusses the recent contributions in the state-of-the-art alkaline electrolyzer which is known as a low-cost and robust structure hydrogen production device. The work thoroughly reviews the recent performance improvement methods and the applications. The performance improvement methods are divided into parametric optimization and overpotential reduction via innovative electrode materials, its fabrication methods, and novel separator materials. Accordingly, an enhanced electrode made of Ni-wire mesh could reach a current density of 2 A/cm2 at a cell voltage of 1.85 V which is comparable to that of high-cost proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. The applications of alkaline electrolyzer are classified into standalone large-scale hydrogen production systems and the additional system as means of a hybrid system for energy recovery applications. A hydrogen production capacity of 1,374,142 kg/year was obtained by adopting wind energy during the off-grid hours. Furthermore, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer program in order to illustrate the trend in hydrogen production in terms of indexed keywords, authors' keywords, country citation, authors' collaborative, and journals’ bibliographic coupling. 

A review of recent advances in alkaline electrolyzer for green hydrogen production: Performance improvement and applications

Review on clean hydrogen generation from petroleum reservoirs: Fundamentals, mechanisms, and field applications

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), with facile synthesis, unique structure, high stability, and low cost, has been the hotspot in the field of photocatalysis. However, the photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4 is still unsatisfactory due to insufficient capture of visible light, low surface area, poor electronic conductivity, and fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Thus, different modification strategies have been developed to improve its performance. In this review, the properties and preparation methods of g-C3N4 are systematically introduced, and various modification approaches, including morphology control, elemental doping, heterojunction construction, and modification with nanomaterials, are discussed. Moreover, photocatalytic applications in energy and environmental sustainability are summarized, such as hydrogen generation, CO2 reduction, and degradation of contaminants in recent years. Finally, concluding remarks and perspectives on the challenges, and suggestions for exploiting g-C3N4-based photocatalysts are presented. This review will deepen the understanding of the state of the art of g-C3N4, including the fabrication, modification, and application in energy and environmental sustainability.

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Recent Advances in g-C3N4-Based Materials and Their Application in Energy and Environmental Sustainability

Eco-friendly synthesis of Ag-doped ZnO/MgO as a potential photocatalyst for antimicrobial and dye degradation applications

Photocatalytic dye degradation and antibacterial activities of CeO2/g-C3N4 nanomaterials for environmental applications.

Visible light enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants with SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for environmental applications

Architecting the Z-scheme heterojunction of Gd2O3/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for enhanced visible-light-induced photoactivity towards organic pollutants degradation.

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