Natural rubber

Catalysis

Engineering

Black phosphorus

Photochemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Layer (electronics)

Phosphorus

Chemical engineering

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Oxygen

Carbon nitride

Composite material

Heterojunction

Chemistry

Nitride

Photocatalysis

Carbon black

Optoelectronics

Advanced Functional Materials

Metal-free heterostructure photocatalysts composed of black phosphorus (BP) and polymeric carbon nitride (CN) are successfully synthesized via a one-step liquid exfoliation method assisted by sonication. The combination of BP with CN strengthens the visible-light harvesting ability, facilitates the charge separation in the photocatalytic process, and renders promoted activity of photoinduced molecular oxygen activation, such as superoxide radicals (·O2−) evolution and H2O2 production. This work highlights that coupling semiconductors with well-matched band levels provide a flexible route to enhance the performance of photocatalysts for producing reactive oxygen species, and gives ideas for the design of highly active and metal-free materials toward sustainable solar-to-chemical energy conversion and environmental remediation.

Black Phosphorus and Polymeric Carbon Nitride Heterostructure for Photoinduced Molecular Oxygen Activation