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[Display omitted] • A sufficient and tunable ohmic junction can be built in allochroic Pt/CN. • The ohmic contact is formed by the photoconversion of semiconducting CN to metalloid. • The reversible photoconversion of CN is accompanied with a color change. • The ohmic contact between Pt and CN significantly enhances the HER activity. • The deactivation and regeneration mechanisms of the allochroic Pt/CN are proposed. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The S + K-codoped g-C 3 N 4 presents excellent H 2 production (8.78 mmol g−1 h−1) under visible light. • The S + K-codoped g-C 3 N 4 inhibits the recombination of photogenerated carriers. • The S + K-codoped g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst shows apparent quantum efficiency of 70 % at 420 nm for H 2 production. Modifying the structure of a photocatalyst to tailor its electronic and physicochemical properties is an effective approach for efficient photocatalysis. Herein, we demonstrate that co-doping non-metal (S) and metal (K) atoms into graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) provides excellent visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of 8.78 mmol g−1 h−1, which is 98 times higher than that of pristine g-C 3 N 4 (0.09 mmol g−1 h−1). The apparent quantum efficiency of the S+K-co-doped g-C 3 N 4 reaches 70 % at 420 nm. This outstanding photocatalytic performance attributed to an increased specific surface area from 6.78 to 74.23 cm3 g−1, which reduced the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers and enhanced conductivity. Various characterizations are undertaken to elucidate the S+K-co-doped g-C 3 N 4 photocatalytic mechanism. Our work not only demonstrates a facile, eco-friendly and scalable strategy for the synthesis of S+K-co-doped g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts, but also opens a new avenue for the design of co-doped photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]