Photocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation using Graphitic Carbon Nitride: A Review

Abstract In this work, research articles dealing with the photocatalytic fixation of nitrogen using graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) were reviewed starting from 2015 when the first paper on this topic was published. The NH 3 /NH 4 + production rates were adopted from these articles and statistically processed. The highest rate obtained by the composite g‐C 3 N 4 and 1T‐MoS 2 was 11120 μmol g −1 L −1 h −1 . The highest reported rate provided by bulk (bare) g‐C 3 N 4 was 5561 μmol g −1 L −1 h −1 , which was higher than 90 % of the rates provided by the various composites of g‐C 3 N 4 . The quantum efficiency of the composites varied from 0.033 to 5.65 % with a median of 1.25 %. Although these results are still not competitive with the industrial Haber‐Bosh process, graphitic carbon nitride is recommended as a promising material for the future investigation of photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under visible light.