Chapter 1 - Graphitic carbon nitride: An uprising carbonaceous material

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitrides are rapidly gaining importance in various fields related to catalysis, energy storage and other applications associated with their unique chemical and optoelectronic properties. Synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with morphologies in nanoscale has attracted intense interest in recent years due to its excellent properties like higher surface area, abundance of active sites, higher water dispersity, and a wider band gap. g-C3N4 nanoarchitectures include nanosheets, nanotubes, nanorods, quantum dots, nanoparticles, hollow sphere, nanospherical frameworks, and nanocomposites. Structural manipulation of graphitic carbon nitride has been performed either through top-down strategies inspired by the success of graphene exfoliated from bulk graphite or bottom-up strategies, which include hard and soft templating methods and template-free approaches. These nanostructures of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) exhibit promising potential for a wide range of applications, which include photocatalysis, sensors and bioimaging because of their unique physiochemical, morphological, electrical, and optical characteristics. Nanostructured g-C3N4 has made its impact and is marked as a potential two-dimensional nanomaterial in terms of demonstrating desired inherent features specific to applications. It can be also used in the development of advanced nanomaterials, which can provide additional advantages in a synergistic manner via attaching/binding to target of interest.