Nanoporous Graphitic Carbon Nitride with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 29; no. 33; pp. 10566 - 10572
• Main Authors: Xu, Jing, Wang, Yajun, Zhu, Yongfa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 20.08.2013
• Subjects: Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Photochemistry; Physical chemistry of induced reactions (with radiations, particles and ultrasonics); Porous materials; Surface physical chemistry; Separation; Heating rate; Photocatalysis; Active site; Adsorption capacity; Porous material; Template; Pollutant; Bubble; Adsorption; Efficiency; Thiourea; Carbon nitrides; Surface area; Photochemical degradation; Nanoporosity
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la402268u

Nanoporous g-C3N4 (npg-C3N4) with high surface area was prepared by a bubble-templating method. A higher calcination heating rate and proportion of thiourea can result in a larger surface area and better adsorption and photodegradation activities of npg-C3N4. Compared with the bulk g-C3N4, the adsorption capacity for the target pollutants and photocatalytic degradation and photocurrent performances under visible light irradiation of npg-C3N4 were greatly improved. The optimal photodegradation activity of npg-C3N4 was 3.4 times as high as that of the bulk g-C3N4. The enhanced activities of npg-C3N4 can be attributed to the larger number of surface active sites, improved separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, and higher efficiency of charge immigration.