Promoted spatial charge separation of plasmon Ag and co-catalyst CoxP decorated mesoporous g-C3N4 nanosheet assembly for unexpected solar-driven photocatalytic performance

Plasmon Ag and co-catalyst CoxP decorated mesoporous graphite carbon nitride nanosheet assemblies have been synthesized via a template-calcination and ball milling strategy combined with photoreduction. The obtained composites are characterized by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results show that the sample assembly with mesoporous structure has specific surface area of 50.4 m2 g−1, pore size of 11.3 nm and pore volume of 0.21 cm3 g−1. The Ag and CoxP nanoparticles are decorated on the surface of graphite carbon nitride uniformly. Under solar light irradiation, the photocatalytic degradation rate of ceftazidime for the prepared sample assembly is up to ∼92%, and the photocatalytic reaction rate constant is about 10 times higher than that of bare graphite carbon nitride. Moreover, the sample assembly also exhibits a solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 96.66 μmol g−1 h−1. It can attributed to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag nanoparticles and CoxP co-catalyst promoting the spatial charge separation and the mesoporous structure providing more surface active sites and favoring mass transfer. This special structure offers new insights for fabricating other high-performance photocatalysts with high spatial charge separation