Co-N bond induced carrier fast extraction and transfer for efficient photocatalytic waste to energy conversion

The efficient conversion of waste to renewable energy via photocatalysis is critically limited by sluggish carrier dynamics (separation and transfer), leading to severe charge recombination and diminished performance. Herein, we demonstrate a Co-N bond engineered photocatalyst that enables fast carrier extraction and transfer by anchoring Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles onto g-C 3 N 4 , addressing the intrinsic kinetic bottleneck in photocatalytic waste-to-energy systems. The experimental results demonstrated that the introduction of Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles enhanced the number of active sites and the solar light response range of g-C 3 N 4 . Moreover, the directional charge transfer driven by the Schottky barrier significantly increased the number of effective charges. As a result, the hybrid catalyst exhibits excellent bifunctional catalytic performance in synchronous hydrogen production (3863.2 μmol/h/g) and tetracycline (TC) degradation, which is 10 times higher than pure g-C 3 N 4 . This study provides theoretical and experimental references for designing multifunctional photocatalytic systems based on interface regulation and has reference significance for the development of environmental remediation and energy conversion synergistic technologies.