Utilizing
solar energy to achieve artificial photosynthesis of chemical fuel is prevalent in tackling excessive CO
2 emission and
fossil fuel depletion. Grievous charge recombination
and weak redox capability aggravate the CO
2 photoreduction
performance. Engineering tailored morphology and constructing matched heterostructure are two significant schemes to
ameliorate the CO
2 photoconversion efficiency of g-C
3N
4-based composite. Herein,
a novel S-scheme ultrathin
porous g-C
3N
4 (UPCN)/Ag
2MoO
4 (AMO)
composite was designed by in-situ growing tetragonal α-AMO nanoparticles (NPs) (5-30 nm) on UPCN nanosheets
(NSs). The S-scheme charge transfer route endows UPCN/AMO with fast charge
separation and strong redox capability, demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS), photoelectrochemical tests, steady-state and time-resolved
photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and DFT calculations. The
UPCN/AMO composite exhibits elevated CO
2 photoreduction performance
with CO and CH
4 yield rates of 6.98 and 0.38 μmol g
-1 h
-1,
which are 3.5 and 2.9 folds higher than that of pristine UPCN, respectively. Finally,
the CO
2 photoreduction intermediates are analyzed, and the CO
2 photoreduction mechanism is discussed. This work provides a reference for various
g-C
3N
4-based composites applied in artificial
photosynthesis.