Construction of carbon and nitride double vacancy defects on ultrathin porous g-C3N4 nanosheets assisted by freeze-drying for enhanced photocatalysis

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride based photocatalysts have been found extensive application in the degradation of antibiotics and organic pollutants. However, the insufficient of surface active sites and the low efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers separation hinder the development. Herein, ultrathin porous polymer carbon nitride nanosheets (PCNS-F) with carbon and nitride double vacancy defects were successfully fabricated. The facile freeze-drying step, following solvent-thermal treatment and preceding the thermal etching process, stands as a critical step for triggering vacancy generation and adjusting the carbon/nitride ratio. The optimized PCNS-F photocatalyst exhibits an ultrathin structure featuring a substantial abundance of defects in a porous state, resulting in exceptional structural characteristics (183.3 m² g-1, 0.84 cm³ g-1). Surface defect sites increase, and the efficient separation and transfer of photo-generated charge carriers are promoted with the introduction of a suitable vacancy density. PCNS-F demonstrated outstanding photocatalytic degradation performances for tetracycline (81.7 %) and methylene blue (97.7 %) under visible light irradiation for 2 h, which are 10 and 7.2 times higher than those of bulk g-C3N4. The active species of ∙O2- was confirmed to play a major role in the photodegradation process. This work provides a mild approach for engineering carbon and nitride double vacancy defects on g-C3N4 nanosheets, accompanied by tuning carbon/nitride ratio, to effectively eliminate pollutants and cleanse the environment.’