Chemical bonds in precursors regulate g-C3N4 structure and its photocatalytic performance

Abstract

It is well known that the enhanced photocatalytic performance of graphite-type carbon nitride (g-C3N4) will be limited by its microstructure, including its precursor structure, and the relationship between the precursor structure and the target catalyst structure will be an interesting question. Glutaraldehyde (GA) containing aldehyde group was introduced into melamine (MA) to form three GA/MA precursors connected by CN chemical bond, which cause the calcined composite catalysts of g-C3N4 and C with closer lamellar structure along with the increase of the amount of glutaraldehyde added. The study found that the CN chemical bond limits the conversion of melamine to melem by thermal decomposition kinetics analysis, which leads to the formation of the tighter interactions by carbonization. The resulting structure has more efficient photocatalytic performance than pure g-C3N4.