One-Pot Synthesis of 2D-2D WO3/g-C3N4 Photocatalyst in Reverse Microemulsion System via Supercritical CO2 for Enhanced Hydrogen Generation

Graphical Reverse the microemulsion : Through adjusting the phase inversion in the reverse microemulsion system by using supercritical carbon dioxide, 2D/2D WO 3 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction photocatalyst is constructed via a one-pot method, which exhibits excellent photocatalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution during water splitting. Construction of Z-scheme photocatalyst is an effective approach for using solar energy to produce hydrogen during water splitting. Herein, 2D/2D WO 3 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by a convenient and green method including exfoliation and heterojunction procedures, in the reverse microemulsion system via supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ). The resultant W/CN-10.3 composite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution during water splitting with a hydrogen evolution rate of 688.51 μmol g −1 h −1 , which was more than 16 times higher than bulk g-C 3 N 4 with the same loading amount of Pt as cocatalyst. Due to its effective separation of photogenerated carriers and prolonged lifetime, more photoexcited electrons with high reduction ability could contribute to the production of H 2 . Possible formation mechanism of 2D-2D WO 3 /g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets via scCO 2 in the reverse microemulsion system by the one-pot method has been proposed. This work provides an efficient and green strategy to synthesize 2D-2D heterojunction for the utilization in solar-to-fuel conversion.