Tailoring the Morphology of g‐C3N4 by Self‐Assembly towards High Photocatalytic Performance. Issue 12 (29th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liao, Yongliang; Zhu, Shenmin; Ma, Jun; Sun, Zhihua; Yin, Chao; Zhu, Chengling; Lou, Xianghong; Zhang, Di
• Is Part Of: ChemCatChem. Volume 6:Issue 12(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 3419
• Page End: 3425
• Publication Date: 2014-09-29
• Subjects: Catalysis -- Periodicals; 541.39505
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201402654
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1867-3880

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>We report a novel method for the preparation of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C₃N₄) with various morphologies through self‐assembly and calcination, which starts from the raw materials melamine, urea, and cyanuric acid. The hollow to wormlike morphologies of g‐C₃N₄ could be readily tailored by adjusting the molar ratio of melamine to urea; with increase in the molar ratio from 3:1 to 1:3, a morphology transformation was observed. The morphologies were tailored by self‐assembly of the aggregates by hydrogen bonding and ionic interactions. Correspondingly, an increased BET surface area from 49.6 to 97.4 m² g⁻¹ was observed. If used as a photocatalyst in degrading rhodamine B (RhB) under visible‐light irradiation, these g‐C₃N₄ samples demonstrated 7 to 13 times higher performance than conventional bulk g‐C₃N₄. The high performance was attributed to the unique morphology that provided not only high specific surface area but low recombination losses of photogenerated charges.</p> </abstract>