Schottky Junction and D-A-A System Dual Regulation of Graphite-Phase Carbon Nitride for Piezo-Photocatalytic HO Production.

Graphitic carbon nitride had garnered significant attention in recent years for its potential to produce clean HO using solar energy. While current research primarily focused on pollutant degradation, the synthesis of HO remaind underexplored. This project sought to enhanced graphitic carbon nitride (g -CN) by incorporating benzene rings (Ph) and bismuth (Bi) single atoms to form an organic polymer (Ph-g-CN-Bi) with a D-A₁-A₂ structure. Further modifications included the addition of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to create a Ph-g-CN-Bi/RGO Schottky junction, which promoted efficient charge separation and transfer. The interaction between the Schottky junction and the D-A₁-A₂ system accelerated electron-hole pair separation, with RGO acting as a hole-extracting layer. Bismuth single atoms facilitated seamless charge transfer, enhancing both catalytic efficiency and stability. The combined piezoelectric and photocatalytic effects in Ph-g-CN-Bi/RGO significantly increased HO production by accelerating charge carrier migration. This project highlighted the potential of piezoelectric photocatalysis for HO synthesis, effectively merging photocatalysis and piezoelectric catalysis to produce a composite photocatalyst that improved charge carrier transfer at the molecular level.