Synergy of Dopants and Defects in Graphitic Carbon Nitride with Exceptionally Modulated Band Structures for Efficient Photocatalytic Oxygen Evolution

Electronic structure greatly determines the band structures and the charge carrier transport properties of semiconducting photocatalysts and consequently their photocatalytic activities. Here, by simply calcining the mixture of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) and sodium borohydride in an inert atmosphere, boron dopants and nitrogen defects are simultaneously introduced into g-C₃N₄. The resultant boron-doped and nitrogen-deficient g-C₃N₄ exhibits excellent activity for photocatalytic oxygen evolution, with highest oxygen evolution rate reaching 561.2 µmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, much higher than previously reported g-C₃N₄. It is well evidenced that with conduction and valence band positions substantially and continuously tuned by the simultaneous introduction of boron dopants and nitrogen defects into g-C₃N₄, the band structures are exceptionally modulated for both effective optical absorption in visible light and much increased driving force for water oxidation. Moreover, the engineered electronic structure creates abundant unsaturated sites and induces strong interlayer C–N interaction, leading to efficient electron excitation and accelerated charge transport. In the present work, a facile approach is successfully demonstrated to engineer the electronic structures and the band structures of g-C₃N₄ with simultaneous introduction of dopants and defects for high-performance photocatalytic oxygen evolution, which can provide informative principles for the design of efficient photocatalysis systems for solar energy conversion.