Defect engineering in polymeric carbon nitride photocatalyst: Synthesis, properties and characterizations

Longbo Jiang; Jinjuan Yang; Xingzhong Yuan; Jiayin Guo; Jie Liang; Wangwang Tang; Yaoning Chen; Xiaodong Li; Hou Wang; Wei Chu

doi:10.1016/j.cis.2021.102523

Defect engineering in polymeric carbon nitride photocatalyst: Synthesis, properties and characterizations

Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Oct:296:102523. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102523. Epub 2021 Sep 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Electronic address: jianglongbo@hnu.edu.cn.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

PMID: 34534750
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102523

Abstract

Polymer carbon nitride (CN) has unique structure and electronic properties, making it attractive in photocatalysis fields. However, the photocatalytic efficiency of the pristine CN photocatalyst is still unsatisfactory. In this regard, the introduction of vacancy defects can effectively tune photoelectric properties of CN photocatalyst through tailoring the electronic structure and bandgap engineering. In this review, the effect of vacancy defects on CN is reviewed from the aspects of light absorption, charge separation and surface photoreactivity of CN. Meanwhile, the current progress in the design of vacancy defects with the classified carbon vacancies (CVs), nitrogen vacancies (NVs), amino and cyano groups on CN to boost the photocatalytic performance is summarized. Furthermore, various characterization methods have been summarized and highlighted, including microscopic characterization (SEM, TEM, AFM, HAADF-STEM), spectroscopic characterization (XRD, FTIR, XAFS, XANES, EPR, PAS, XPS, raman spectroscopy, solid-state NMR spectroscopy), elemental analysis, and computational characterization. Finally, the future opportunities and challenges of CN photocatalysts designed with vacancies and defects are proposed to highlight the development direction of this research field.

Keywords: Defective; Electronic structure; Photocatalysts; Polymeric carbon nitride; Recognition; Vacancies.

Publication types

Review