Dispersed conductive polymer nanoparticles on graphitic carbon nitride for enhanced solar-driven hydrogen evolution from pure water

Developing new methods to improve the photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) for hydrogen (H 2 ) evolution has attracted intensive research interests. Here, we report that the g-C 3 N 4 exhibits photocatalytic activity for H 2 evolution from pure water. And, the activity is dramatically improved by loading highly dispersed conductive polymer nanoparticles. The H 2 evolution rate increases up to 50 times for g-C 3 N 4 with 1.5 wt% polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles on the surface. The reaction proceeding in a pure water system excludes the need for sacrificial agents. The role of the highly conductive PPy in enhancing H 2 evolution is as a surface junction to increase the number of photoinduced electrons, and to facilitate electron transfer to the interface. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013.