Design of green synthesized from pomegranate extract n-p-n Ag2S/CuO/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract This study aims to obtain hydrogen energy, one of the renewable energy sources, using the photocatalytic method from water, and to produce photocatalysts with a harmless, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly green synthesis method. Ag 2 S/CuO/g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite was fabricated using a green method from pomegranate extract. XRD, FT-IR, DRS, SEM, TEM, and XPS were employed to characterize the crystal and functional structure, optical properties, morphological structure, and charge separation efficiency of the prepared nanocomposite, respectively. Also, the electrochemical analysis, such as EIS, and transient photocurrent, was performed for the prepared nanocomposite. The amount of hydrogen production of Ag 2 S/CuO/g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite reaches 1593 µmol g −1 for 6 h under visible illumination, which is approximately 16, 3.5, 2.1, and 1.3 times higher than that of g-C 3 N 4 , CuO, CuO/g-C 3 N 4, and Ag 2 S, respectively. This study demonstrates that Ag 2 S/CuO/g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite is a promising photocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and suggests a new perspective in the fabrication of other novel photocatalysts.