In-situ construction of urchin-like hierarchical g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH hybrid for efficient photoreduction of CO2

Abstract A well-defined urchin-like g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH heterojunction is constructed through self-sacrificing template process. The hollow core is consisted of g-C3N4 nanoparticles on which NiAl-LDH nanoplates are in-situ grow-out. The hollow cavity and spiny external surface endow g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH with high specific surface areas, favourable capacity of mass transfer and capture of reactant. The charge transfer between the components promotes the separation of photoinduced charge carriers and the efficiency of photon utilization. Combined with the highly exposed reactive sites, the photocatalytic CO production rate of g-C3N4/NiAl-LDH reaches 27.02 μmol g−1 h−1, which is 4.8 and 7.2 times that of g-C3N4 and NiAl-LDH, respectively.