A Metal‐Organic‐Framework‐Derived g‐C3N4/α‐Fe2O3 Hybrid for Enhanced Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

As one of the most efficient systems for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, the Z‐Scheme system, consisting of different semiconductors with a reversible donor–acceptor pair, has attracted great attention. Considering the non‐toxicity and low cost of photocatalysts, a series of g‐C3N4/α‐Fe2O3 hybrids were rationally constructed based on the Z‐Scheme mechanism for the first time, using a metal‐organic framework template approach that can fine tune the compositions and properties of the hybrids. An optimized hybrid, g‐C3N4/α‐Fe2O3‐2, exhibited prominent photocatalytic water splitting performance with a visible light response. Under irradiation of visible light (λ>420 nm), the hybrid shows a high durability and superior hydrogen production rate of 2066.2 μmol g−1 h−1 from water splitting, which is approximately three times greater than that of bulk g‐C3N4 because of the effective separation of photo‐excited charge carriers by two narrow band gap semiconductors, tightly coupled with the Z‐Scheme structural feature. Green hybrid: A Z‐Scheme system, g‐C3N4/α‐Fe2O3, was synthesized by a MOF‐derived template method. The optimized system shows excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance with visible light response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]