Chachvalvutikul, Auttaphon, Qi, Haifeng, Liu, Renjun, Hou, Bo  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9918-8223, Yang, Man, Astley, Simon, Evans, D. Andrew, Zayats, Anatoly V., Richards, David R., Akdim, Ouardia and Hutchings, Graham J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8885-1560
2026.
Au LSPR-boosted S-scheme carbon nitride heterostructures for H2O2 photocatalytic production.
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
10.1039/d6ta04477h
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Abstract
Photocatalytic oxygen reduction offers a sustainable, solar-driven route for the green synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), however it suffers from limited efficiency due to rapid charge recombination and poor selectivity toward the two-electron reduction pathway. Herein, crystalline poly(heptazine) imide (PHI) and poly(triazine) imide (PTI) were synthesized via an ionothermal method and assembled into a PHI/PTI heterostructure, leading to a high H2O2 productivity of 1.27 ± 0.03 mmol L−1. The performance of the composite was benchmarked against the individual pristine components, graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) and carbon-doped GCN, with the heterostructure exhibiting superior activity attributed to an S-scheme charge-transfer mechanism promoting efficient charge separation. Au nanoparticles were subsequently deposited onto the heterostructure surface to yield a 1Au/PHI/PTI catalyst, which further enhanced the performance by ca. 74% through the S-scheme heterojunction, the Schottky barrier formation and the localised surface plasmon excitation. Under optimised continuous irradiation conditions, this catalyst achieved an apparent quantum yield of 18.8% and produced 8.32 ± 0.13 mmol L−1 H2O2 over 5 h, outperforming the recovering-and-reusing route. This work highlights the synergistic effect of Au LSPR with the PHI/PTI S-scheme heterostructure as a promising strategy for enhancing photocatalytic O2 reduction to H2O2, while also underscoring the importance of strong metal-support interactions for long-term catalyst stability.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > Physical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences Schools > Physics and Astronomy |
| Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| ISSN: | 2050-7488 |
| Funders: | EPSRC SWIMS, Leverhulme Trust |
| Projects: | EP/V039717/1, RPG-2022-263 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 17 August 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 27 July 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Aug 2026 08:44 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189004 |
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