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Improve the Performance of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production through Water Splitting with Carbon Nitride-Based Photocatalysts

Sousani, Fatemeh | 2025

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  1. Type of Document: Ph.D. Dissertation
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 58043 (07)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Materials Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Sadrnezhaad, Khatiboleslam; Abachi, Parvin
  7. Abstract:
  8. This study aims to enhance the photocatalytic performance of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for hydrogen evolution and pollutant degradation using a ternary nanophotocatalyst, NixCo1-x (X=0.4 and 0.8)/Zn0.8Cd0.2S (ZCS)/g-C3N4 (CN), under visible light irradiation. For this purpose, NixCo1-x (X=0.4 and 0.8)/ZCS/CN samples were synthesized via chemical reduction and hydrothermal methods. The structural, morphological, and photocatalytic properties of the samples were characterized using XRD, FTIR, XPS, BET, FESEM equipped with EDS, TEM, HR-TEM, UV-Vis DRS, UV-Vis emission, UV-Vis, PL, EIS, Mott-Schottky analysis, and DFT calculations. Water splitting and methylene blue (MB, C16H18N3SCl) degradation were conducted in aqueous solutions under irradiation from various light sources, including LED (700> λ > 400 nm, 100 W), Xenon (400> λ, 300 W), and monochromatic blue LED (λ = 450 nm) for 4 to 16 hours. Photocatalytic H2 evolution tests revealed that no hydrogen peak was observed even after 7 hours of reaction using bulk g-C3N4 without a co-catalyst. However, the highest H2 production rate of 15383.63 µmol/g.h was achieved with the Ni0.4Co0.6/ZCS/CN nanophotocatalyst after 77 minutes of irradiation, demonstrating a significant improvement compared to bulk g-C3N4. Furthermore, after 16 hours (4 cycles) of photocatalytic testing, no significant change was observed in the H2 evolution rate of the ternary nanophotocatalyst. MB degradation results showed that after 3 hours, the Ni0.8Co0.2/ZCS/CN nanophotocatalyst and bulk g-C3N4 degraded approximately 85% and 56% of MB, respectively.
  9. Keywords:
  10. Nanophotocatalyst ; Methylene Blue Degradation ; Graphitic Carbon Nitride ; Performance Improvement ; Hydrogen Producing ; Overall Water Splitting

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