Facile synthesis of 3D porous thermally exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheet with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic dye

Xiaoya Yuan; Chou Zhou; Yanrong Jin; Qiuye Jing; Yaling Yang; Xu Shen; Qi Tang; Yuanhua Mu; An-Ke Du

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.048

Facile synthesis of 3D porous thermally exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheet with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic dye

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Apr 15:468:211-219. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.048. Epub 2016 Jan 22.

Authors

Xiaoya Yuan¹, Chou Zhou², Yanrong Jin², Qiuye Jing², Yaling Yang², Xu Shen², Qi Tang², Yuanhua Mu², An-Ke Du³

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. Electronic address: yuanxy@cqjtu.edu.cn.
² College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China.
³ Chongqing Academy of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401123, China.

PMID: 26851454
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.048

Abstract

3D porous framework composed of exfoliated ultrathin nanosheets is a hot topic in the field of energy storage and conversion. A facile method to prepare 3D mesoporous C3N4 with few-layered nanosheets interconnected in large quantity via H2SO4 intercalation and subsequent thermal treatment was described herein. The obtained thermally-exfoliated C3N4 (TE-C3N4) was thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements. The detailed analysis indicated that TE-C3N4 possessed enlarged inter-layer space, enhanced UV-light adsorption and high specific surface area with 3D interconnected structure composed of ultrathin 2D nanosheets. Compared to bulk C3N4, TE-C3N4 showed an enhanced photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of Rhodamine B under UV-light irradiation and exhibited no significant loss of photocatalytic activity after 11 recycled runs. The pseudo-first reaction rate constant for TE-C3N4 was about four times higher than that for pure bulk-C3N4. The better photocatalytic performance could be attributed to more active catalytic sites, prolonged photo-excited carrier lifetime and shorted pathway of the carriers to the reaction sites.

Keywords: C(3)N(4) nanosheets; Mesoporous; Photocatalytic degradation; Thermal exfoliation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't