Self-assembled hierarchical carbon/g-C 3 N 4 composite with high photocatalytic activity

作者：Ru-Long Huang, Wei‐Qing Huang, Dongfeng Li, Lili Ma, Anlian Pan, Wangyu Hu, Xiaoxing Fan, Gui‐Fang Huang · 发表于：Journal of Physics D Applied Physics · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1088/1361-6463/aab05d · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques、Gas Sensing Nanomaterials and Sensors、2D Materials and Applications

Abstract Hierarchical carbon/g-C 3 N 4 composites consisting of nanosheets are synthesized by a direct thermal diffusion and exfoliation approach with glucose acting as the intercalator and carbon source. This facile protocol not only renders nanosheets with a large surface area, but also carbon intercalation into the interlayer of g-C 3 N 4 . Therefore, the synthesized carbon/g-C 3 N 4 composites exhibit superior photocatalytic performance for degrading representative methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiatuon. Carbon/g-C 3 N 4 composites with an optimal glucose mass ratio of 0.25% show the apparent reaction rate constant of 0.253 h −1 , which is 9 times higher than that over bluk g-C 3 N 4 . The superior photocatalytic performance of carbon/g-C 3 N 4 hierarchical architectures can be attributed to the synergic effects of large reactive sites, effective visible light adsorption and faster charge transfer owing to the superior electron transfer ability of carbon as verified by the PL and photoelectrochemical measurements. The main reactive species responsible for the photocatalytic degradation are photoinduced holes and ·OH radicals under visible light irradiation. This work provides a facile way to fabricate effecient g-C 3 N 4 -based photocatalysts for the potential application in dealing with environmental and energy shortage issues using solar energy.