Phosphorus-Doped Hollow Tubular g-C(3)N(4) for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO(2) Reduction

Photocatalytic CO(2) reduction is a tactic for solving the environmental pollution caused by greenhouse gases. Herein, NH(4)H(2)PO(4) was added as a phosphorus source in the process of the hydrothermal treatment of melamine for the first time, and phosphorus-doped hollow tubular g-C(3)N(4) (x-P-HCN) was fabricated and used for photocatalytic CO(2) reduction. Here, 1.0-P-HCN exhibited the largest CO production rate of 9.00 μmol·g(−1)·h(−1), which was 10.22 times higher than that of bulk g-C(3)N(4). After doping with phosphorus, the light absorption range, the CO(2) adsorption capacity, and the specific surface area of the 1.0-P-HCN sample were greatly improved. In addition, the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs was enhanced. Furthermore, the phosphorus-doped g-C(3)N(4) effectively activated the CO(2) adsorbed on the surface of phosphorus-doped g-C(3)N(4) photocatalysts, which greatly enhanced the CO production rate of photocatalytic CO(2) reduction over that of g-C(3)N(4).