Tremella-like Boron-doped hierarchical CN and dispersion Co phthalocyanine assembling heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Semiconducting photocatalysts' electronic configuration significantly impacts their band gaps, charge carrier transport properties, and photocatalytic activities. Boron-doped tremella-like hierarchical CN and ultrathin Co phthalocyanine (CoPe) heterojunction (B 1.5 HCN-Co 0.5% ) formation via strengthened H-bonding interfacial connection possess excellent photocatalytic activities in water where the small amounts of catalysts exhibit a high photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity with H 2 evolution rate of 17818.82 μmol h −1 g −1 under simulated sunlight and 5558.81 μmol h −1 g −1 under visible light (≥420 nm). According to detailed characterization, the unique tremella-like hierarchical structure with abundant mesopores shortens the charge diffusion length. At the same time, incorporating CoPe improves the charge transport properties of B 1.5 HCN achieving effective spatial separation, which is primarily responsible for the improved performance. Both a significant amount of experimental data and theoretical calculations demonstrated the critical role of boron-doped and CoPe in photocatalytic H 2 evolution. Heteroatom doping and heterojunction construction are essential in rationally regulating band structure to construct more efficient CN-based photocatalysts.