Overall water splitting by Pt/g-CN photocatalysts without using sacrificial agents.

We report the direct splitting of pure water by light-excited graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) modified with Pt, PtO , and CoO as redox cocatalysts, while pure g-CN is virtually inactive for overall water splitting by photocatalysis. The novelty is in the selective creation of both H and O cocatalysts on surface active sites of g-CN photodeposition triggering the splitting of water for the simultaneous evolution of H and O gases in a stoichiometric ratio of 2 : 1, irradiated with light, without using any sacrificial reagents. The photocatalyst was stable for 510 hours of reaction.