Metal-free phosphorus and boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride/zeolite hetero-linked particles for highly efficient green hydrogen production in methanol.

Herein, the development of phosphorus and boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride/zeolite (P- and B-doped g-C3N4-zeolite) catalyst under three-step heating conditions was performed. The first step is to prepare g-C3N4 synthesis from urea at 500 °C. In the second step, the production of a B-doped zeolite-g-C3N4 catalyst by calcination of g-C3N4 and zeolite was obtained at a ratio of 1:1 with boric acid at 500 °C. In the third step, the obtained B-doped zeolite- g-C3N4 catalyst consists of the preparation of B- and P-doped g-C3N4-zeolite catalyst as a result of the hydrothermal method with phosphoric acid. Characterization studies of the obtained catalysts were carried out with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). These obtained catalysts were used as a metal-free catalyst in the production of hydrogen (H2-P) by sodium borohydride in methanol(NaBH4-MR) for the first time in the literature. The hydrogen production rate (HGR) value for P- and B-doped g-C3N4-zeolite catalysts was 6250 ml min-1 g-1.