Encapsulation of supported g-C3N4/Au with metal–organic frameworks for enhanced stability towards photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The supported graphitic-carbon nitride (g-C3N4)/Au composite has attracted considerable attention as an alternative visible-light photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reactions. However, the short-term photocatalytic durability greatly limits their practical application. In this work, porous [Zn(BDC)(H2O)2]n, which is a typical two-dimensional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), was used as the protecting material to encapsulate g-C3N4/Au. The obtained g-C3N4/Au@[Zn(BDC)(H2O)2]n catalyst was composed of lamellar MOFs shells and g-C3N4/Au cores. The catalysts exhibited an excellent catalytic activity and particularly superior stability as compared to the bare g-C3N4/Au. The encapsulation method by using MOFs as the protective shell provides an alternative strategy for designing photocatalysts with high catalytic performance.