Abstract
•Molecular engineering (copolymerization) strategies has been utilized by modulating aromatic heterocyclic monomer Uric Acid (UA) within carbon nitride (CN) copolymer (CN/UA).•Incorporation of Uric acid (UA) alter a significant fluctuation in the surface area, electronic structure, band gap, chemical composition of CN and boosting the process of photogenerated electrons/holes.•The modified samples demonstrating a momentous enhancement in the photocatalytic performance of water reduction (H2 evolution) and pollutants degradation (RhB).•This novel integrity of UA co-monomer with in CN matrix remarkably improve the photocatalytic activity toward prosperity and as such the best photocatalyst CN/UA10.0 accelerate an outstanding photocatalytic activity of water reduction as 8 times higher compared of pure CN respectively.
An ideal solution to water or pollutant contamination and energy problem is to advance photocatalysts that are highly effective for both reducing contaminants and cleaning water. In this regard, carbon nitride (CN) has strong stability with prominent band structure and can be used to produce hydrogen through water splitting due to an easier fabrication process. Uric acid (UA) was integrated as a conjugated monomer in the urea based CN system using the molecular doping (copolymerization) process. The photocatalysis of water reduction (HER) by using a new growth technique of minimally priced effective monomer UA inside CN, which also optimized the photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye (RhB) under light illumination (λ = 420 nm). By increasing light transmittance, speeding up photogenerated electrons and holes, and changing the physicochemical properties of CN, modified samples dramatically improve photocatalytic efficiency. The ideal samples CNU-UA10.0 showed a substantial increase in photocatalytic activity, with an HER 690.01 μmol/h higher than CNU (82.89 μmol/h), based on the implications of different configurations on the reaction mechanism. Moreover, an extraordinary apparent quantum yield (AQY) of about 57.43% at 420 nm has been observed for CNU-UA10.0. Under the same conditions and illuminations, H2 performance versus RhB dye degradation was compared. CNU-UA, on the other hand, had a three-fold higher pseudo-order kinetic constant for photodegradation of RhB than CN. The results demonstrate a major step toward in the direction of custom-designed photocatalysts with efficient water reduction and pollutants degradation capability for future demand.