Synthesis of highly efficient selenium oxide hybridized g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst for NADH/NADPH regeneration to facilitate solar-to-chemical reaction

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Yadav, Shesh Nath^{a; b} | Kumar, Brijesh^{a; *} | Yadav, Rajesh K.^{b; *} | Singh, Pooja^b | Gupta, Sarvesh Kumar^c | Singh, Satyam^b | Singh, Chandani^b | Chaubey, Surabhi^b | Singh, Atul P.^d

Affiliations: [a] Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P., India | [b] Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P., India | [c] Nanoionics and Energy Storage Laboratory (NanoESL), Department of Physics and Material Science, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P., India | [d] Department of Chemistry, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Brijesh Kumar, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P. 273010, India. E-mail: bkece@mmmut.ac.in and Rajesh K. Yadav, Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P. 273010, India. E-mail: rajeshkr_yadav2003@yahoo.co.in.

Abstract: An inexpensive graphitic carbon nitrite (g-C3N4) photocatalyst was hybridized with selenium oxide (SeO2) photocatalyst by a monolayer-dispersed technique. After hybridization of g-C3N4 with SeO2, the NADH/NADPH regeneration efficiency of SeO2 photocatalyst was enhanced under solar light illumination. The photocatalytic activity of SeO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst under solar light illumination was enhanced by 3-fold higher than g-C3N4 photocatalyst, the solar light photocatalytic activity was produced and the photo-decomposition of SeO2 photocatalyst was completely stifled after hybridized SeO2 photocatalyst by g-C3N4 photocatalyst. The improvement in performance and photo-decomposition inhibition under solar light illumination was persuaded by efficiency separation of photo-persuaded holes from SeO2 to the valence bond (V.B.)/highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of g-C3N4 under solar light illumination, the electron jumped from the V.B. to the conduction band (C.B.)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of g-C3N4 could directly insert into the C.B. of SeO2 photocatalyst, synthesized SeO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst is highly active for NADH/NADPH regeneration under solar light.

Keywords: SeO₂ photocatalyst, SeO₂/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst, NADH/NADPH regeneration, solar light

DOI: 10.3233/MGC-210189

Journal: Main Group Chemistry, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1077-1089, 2022