Graphitic carbon nitride with thermally-induced nitrogen defects: an efficient process to enhance photocatalytic H₂ production performance

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4, CN) with nitrogen vacancies was synthesized by a controlled thermal etching method in a semi-closed air-conditioning system. The defect-modified g-C3N4 shows an excellent photocatalytic performance demonstrated by water splitting under visible light irradiation. With proper heat-treatment durations such as 2 h (CN2) and 4 h (CN4) at 550 °C, the hydrogen production rates significantly increase to 100 μmol h-1 and...