Facile Electrospinning Synthesis of Carbonized Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/g-C3N4 Hybrid Films for Photoelectrochemical Applications

The film-forming ability and conductivity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) are still unsatisfying, despite much progress having been made in g-C3N4-related photocatalysts. New methods for synthesizing g-C3N4 films coupled with excellent conductive materials are of significance. Herein, a facile method for synthesizing novel carbonized polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/g-C3N4 (CPVP/g-C3N4) films have been developed through an electrospinning technique. Nanocarbons are generated by in situ carbonization of PVP in the films, which could enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of the films due to its good conductivity. The coverage of the CPVP/g-C3N4 film is good and the films exhibit excellent PEC performance. Furthermore, the thickness of the films can be adjusted by varying the electrospinning time and substantially controlling the PEC performance, of which the photocurrent densities under visible-light irradiation are 3.55, 4.92, and 6.64 mu A cm(-2) with spinning times of 40, 70, and 120 min, respectively. The photocurrent does not decrease until testing at 4000 s and the coverage is still good after the tests, which indicates the good stability of the films. The excellent PEC performance of the films and facile preparation method enables promising applications in energy and environmental remediation areas.