Confining high-density SnTe3O8 quantum dots on honeycomb-like carbon nitride nanotubes through in situ evolution of alloy for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

It is highly difficult to modify the high-density quantum dots (QDs) on the photocatalyst, which also suffers from the issues of uneven dispersion and low stability caused by weak bonding forces. Here, a new “in situ evolution of alloy” strategy is proposed to fabricate a hybrid photocatalyst of high-density and well-dispersed SnTe 3 O 8 QDs modified honeycomb-like carbon nitride (HCN) nanotubes. In the resulting SnTe 3 O 8 /HCN hybrid, SnTe 3 O 8 QDs act as charge transport bridges that effectively extract photogenerated electrons produced from HCN nanotubes to improve the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers, thus enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. As a result, the hydrogen production rate of the optimal SnTe 3 O 8 /HCN-3 % sample is 1716.5 μmol g −1 h −1 under visible light, which is 3.3 times that of HCN nanotubes (513.3 μmol g −1 h −1 ). Meanwhile, the optimal SnTe 3 O 8 /HCN-3 % sample achieves an apparent quantum yield of 7.8 % at 420 nm and demonstrates outstanding cyclic stability. • A “in situ evolution of alloy” strategy is used to fabricate SnTe 3 O 8 /HCN hybrid. • High-density and well-dispersed SnTe 3 O 8 QDs modify on HCN nanotubes. • SnTe 3 O 8 QDs as charge transport bridges improve carrier separation efficiency. • SnTe 3 O 8 /HCN-3 % reaches 3.3-fold hydrogen production rate of HCN nanotubes.