P-n heterostructured design of CuCr_1-xIn_xO₂/B doped g-C₃N₄ porous nanotubes for boosted photocatalytic hydrogen production activity

Designing high-efficiency photocatalysts for H₂ production is a very important and challenging task. In this work, by anchoring In doped CuCrO₂ (CCIO) nanoparticles on B doped g-C₃N₄ porous nanotubes (BCNT), a novel CCIO/BCNT p-n junction photocatalysts were constructed. The results show that compared with g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (CNS), BCNT exhibits greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity, indicating that morphology of catalyst and B doping have significant impact on photocatalytic activity of CN. Through constructing a p-n junction using BCNT and CCIO, the obtained CCIO/BCNT p-n junction could obviously enhance photocatalytic activity of BCNT. The optimal doping amount of In is 5 %, and the optimal heterostructure 7 % CCIO/BCNT exhibits superior photocatalytic activity (11250.42 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), which is approximately 5.5 times of pristine BCNT under visible light. It is mainly due to the morphology of nanotubes, indium doping and CCIO/BCNT p-n junction, greatly promoting the separation of carriers. Moreover, the possible charges transfer mechanism of CCIO/BCNT p-n junction photocatalysts was proposed.