Chapter 14
Synthesis and Modifications of Mesoporous
g-C 3 N 4 Photocatalyst
14.1 Introduction
In recent years, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), as a metal-free polymeric semiconductor with the merits of high chemical stability, narrow bandgap (~2.7 eV),
excellent abrasion resistance, as well as good biological compatibility, has become a
hot research topic in the field of nanomaterials [1]. Similar to graphite, g-C 3 N 4 also
possesses sheet structure, which contains C 3 N 3 rings and C 6 N 7 rings connected with
each other by the N to form an unlimited plane. With the unique bandgap structure
and the highly conjugated electron pair of N [2], g-C 3 N 4 has shown potential
application prospects in many aspects, such as photocatalytic hydrogen production
with water [3], reduction of carbon dioxide [4], degradation of organic pollutants
[5, 6], oxidation of alcohols [7], and so on. There are many reported raw materials,
which can be used to synthesize g-C 3 N 4 , such as dicyandiamide, cyanamide, urea,
melamine, hexamethylenetetramine, and ammonium thiocyanate. The preparation
methods of bulk g-C 3 N 4 are also numerous, including high-temperature sintering
[8, 9], shock wave compression [10, 11], high-pressure pyrolyzation [12], ion
implantation [13], low-energy ion radiation [14], ion beam deposition [15, 16],
sputtering [17], chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [18, 19], laser pulse [20, 21],
and so on. With the development of researches, the synthesis methods and the
characterization means of bulk g-C 3 N 4 have been quite mature. However, general
drawbacks of bulk materials such as small specific surface area as well as less active
sites hinder the further development of bulk g-C 3 N 4 .
Mesoporous material is a research hot spot in recent decades. Mesoporous
materials are famous for the pore channels in diameter sizes of 2–50 nm inside
them, which contribute them to possessing more excellent properties and more
potential applications than bulk materials [22–24]. Therefore, mesoporous materials
with many super properties of high specific surface area, more active sites, ordered
pore structure, lower density, and strong adsorption ability [25] have attracted
widespread interest in multidisciplinary researches. Fabricating g-C 3 N 4 into
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018
J. Zhang et al., Photocatalysis, Lecture Notes in Chemistry 100,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2113-9_14
345
Synthesis and Modifications of Mesoporous
g-C 3 N 4 Photocatalyst
14.1 Introduction
In recent years, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), as a metal-free polymeric semiconductor with the merits of high chemical stability, narrow bandgap (~2.7 eV),
excellent abrasion resistance, as well as good biological compatibility, has become a
hot research topic in the field of nanomaterials [1]. Similar to graphite, g-C 3 N 4 also
possesses sheet structure, which contains C 3 N 3 rings and C 6 N 7 rings connected with
each other by the N to form an unlimited plane. With the unique bandgap structure
and the highly conjugated electron pair of N [2], g-C 3 N 4 has shown potential
application prospects in many aspects, such as photocatalytic hydrogen production
with water [3], reduction of carbon dioxide [4], degradation of organic pollutants
[5, 6], oxidation of alcohols [7], and so on. There are many reported raw materials,
which can be used to synthesize g-C 3 N 4 , such as dicyandiamide, cyanamide, urea,
melamine, hexamethylenetetramine, and ammonium thiocyanate. The preparation
methods of bulk g-C 3 N 4 are also numerous, including high-temperature sintering
[8, 9], shock wave compression [10, 11], high-pressure pyrolyzation [12], ion
implantation [13], low-energy ion radiation [14], ion beam deposition [15, 16],
sputtering [17], chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [18, 19], laser pulse [20, 21],
and so on. With the development of researches, the synthesis methods and the
characterization means of bulk g-C 3 N 4 have been quite mature. However, general
drawbacks of bulk materials such as small specific surface area as well as less active
sites hinder the further development of bulk g-C 3 N 4 .
Mesoporous material is a research hot spot in recent decades. Mesoporous
materials are famous for the pore channels in diameter sizes of 2–50 nm inside
them, which contribute them to possessing more excellent properties and more
potential applications than bulk materials [22–24]. Therefore, mesoporous materials
with many super properties of high specific surface area, more active sites, ordered
pore structure, lower density, and strong adsorption ability [25] have attracted
widespread interest in multidisciplinary researches. Fabricating g-C 3 N 4 into
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018
J. Zhang et al., Photocatalysis, Lecture Notes in Chemistry 100,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2113-9_14
345