Facile synthesis of mesoporous detonation nanodiamond-modified layers of graphitic carbon nitride as photocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) may contribute substantially to energy resources in the future through solar energy conversion. In this study, mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) layers modified by detonation nanodiamond (DND) were synthesized by condensation from urea to obtain a robust and efficient hybrid (g-C3N4–DND) photocatalyst for the HER. Our characterizations revealed that no significant structural changes occurred in g-C3N4 during the synthesis of the g-C3N4–DND hybrid. Compared with pure g-C3N4, hydrogen production increased by almost 50% when using the hybrid photocatalyst due to the synergetic effect of the enhanced charge transfer, high surface area and low recombination rate of the photogenerated charge carriers.