@article{Wang2026, 
author = {Bin Wang and Dan Qu and Yanke Xue and Xue Dou and Jinliang Chen and Wenning Liu and Yichang Liu and Li An and Xiayan Wang and Zaicheng Sun},
title = {In situ embedding of red-emissive carbon dots into graphitic carbon nitride enables efficient solar hydrogen production},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {1},
pages = {94908062},
keywords = {carbon nitride, charge separation, hydrogen evolution, visible light absorption, red-emissive carbon dots},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908062},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908062},
abstract = {The integration of carbon dots (CDs) with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has emerged as a promising approach to enhance photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution. Despite significant progress, critical challenges remain in achieving broad visible-light absorption and suppressing charge recombination. In this work, we developed a series of photocatalysts through in situ embedding of red-emissive CDs (R-CDs) into g-C3N4 (RCN) with precisely controlled loading amounts. Systematic characterization revealed that the R-CDs incorporation simultaneously addresses two fundamental limitations: (1) extending the light absorption edge to 800 nm, and (2) acting as an electron acceptor, facilitating charge separation. The optimized RCN composite demonstrates exceptional H2 evolution activity (1.87 mmol·g−1·h−1, wavelength (λ) ≥ 420 nm), representing a 3.3-fold enhancement over pristine g-C3N4. Remarkably, the apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) reaches 9.1% at 420 nm, while maintaining measurable activity beyond 475 nm, where unmodified g-C3N4 shows negligible response. This study provides fundamental insights into band structure engineering and charge carrier management through rational design of CDs-modified semiconductor heterostructures.}
}