Allochroic platinum/carbon nitride with photoactivated ohmic contact for efficient visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The direct hybridization of Pt and g-C 3 N 4 generally forms a Schottky barrier between the two components, which unavoidably hinders the migration of photogenerated electrons from g-C 3 N 4 to the Pt cocatalyst. Herein, we report the first efficient allochroic Pt/g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst that can form an ohmic contact through photoconversion of semiconducting g-C 3 N 4 to metalloid, accompanied with the charge carrier storage and photocatalyst color change, which is proved experimentally and theoretically. Through intermittent exposure of Pt/g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst to air for a few minutes during photocatalysis, the photocatalyst shows the highest hydrogen evolution performances. The ohmic contacts greatly promote the electron transfer from the semiconducting g-C 3 N 4 to the Pt cocatalyst driven by the built-in electric field. In addition, the mechanism for the photocatalyst deactivation and activation is presented. The compositional tuning of the allochroic g-C 3 N 4 through light irradiation and exposure to air can control over the photocatalytic activity and long-term stability for hydrogen evolution. This report for the first time unveils the deactivation and regeneration mechanisms of SCN.