In-situ synthesis of non-phase-separated boron carbon nitride for photocatalytic reduction of CO2

Abstract Non-phase-separated hexagonal boron carbon nitride (h-BCN) is an emerging type of promising metal-free photocatalyst, but the synthesis of this material remains quite challenging. Here, h-BCN without phase separation was obtained through a novel organic-inorganic hybrid precursor pyrolysis method using boric acid and ethylenediamine as raw materials. The resultant BCN-1 exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction, as confirmed by a CO generation rate of 13.97 μmol g−1 h−1 under visible light illumination with no co-catalyst or sacrificial agent. This rate was 9.4 times higher than that of g-C3N4 (2.1 μmol g−1 h−1) under the same experimental condition. The pre-existing C–N–B bond is essential for mediating the growth kinetics and diminishing the thermodynamically preferred C and BN phase-segregation structure, while ammonia is crucial for C–N–B bond fixation and pore formation during the pyrolysis process. This finding of a facile method for synthesizing non-phase-separated BCN has positive effects on the study of photocatalytic CO2 reduction by sustainable metal-free catalysts.