Controlling size and distribution of Au nano-particles on C3N4 for high-efficiency photocatalytic hydrogen production.

With advantages such as low cost, high stability, and ease of production, visible light photocatalytic C₃N₄ with a unique microscopic layered structure holds significant potential for development. However, its hydrogen production efficiency remains low due to the pronounced recombination of photo-generated charge carriers and limited surface reaction sites. Normally, the photocatalytic performance of C₃N₄ can be enhanced by loading noble metals with surface plasmon resonance. It is worth noting that the size of noble metal nanoparticles has a great influence on photocatalytic performance. In this study, accurate controlling of the size and distribution of Au nanoparticles was achieved on the surface of C₃N₄ by introducing amino groups to improve photocatalytic performance. Results show that uniformly distributed Au nanoparticles in the range of 2–6 nm can be obtained on C₃N₄ with a remarkable enhancement of hydrogen production efficiency, which is about 114 times the property of pure C₃N₄. The small-sized and uniformly distributed Au nanoparticles can provide more reaction sites and increase the separation of photo-generated charge carriers, in turn improving Au/NH₃–C₃N₄ photocatalytic hydrogen release rate to 6.85 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. This work offers a facile way to enhance photocatalytic performance by controlling the size of metal nanoparticles on C₃N₄ precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]