Abstract
Defects are conventionally considered as the active sites in heptazine-based polymer melon (also known as graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4) for photocatalysis and are rationally incorporated for improving the intrinsic photocatalytic ability. The rise of group functionalized g-C3N4 based on defect engineering has set off a new wave of research in recent years, especially in photocatalysis. In this review, the recent process in functional group defect strategies to design high-efficiency g-C3N4-based photocatalysts, including cyanamide/cyano moiety, urea group, oxygen-containing groups (—OH, —COOH), and aromatic motifs, has been strictly analyzed so as to inspire critical thinking about the efficient methodology for the rational design of polymeric photocatalysts. The applications of the group functionalized g-C3N4 in photocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, H2 evolution, ammonia synthesis, H2O2 production, and disinfection are summarized. The current challenges and future promising applications of the group functionalized g-C3N4 materials for advanced catalysts are also discussed.
Highlights
Energy and environmental issues caused by fossil fuel consumption are the largest problems and challenges faced by the sustainable development of our national economy.1–4 The new discoveries from materials science and engineering are currently being designed to overcome the obstacles for efficient energy conversion and environmental protection.5–7 In the development of all kinds of renewable and new resources, semiconductor-based photocatalysis, only consuming inexhaustible and clean solar energy, has drawn international concern due to its various promising potential applications in solar energy conversion and environmental remediation.8–11 Besides using solar energy as a driving force, a proper semiconductor is absolutely required to carry out a variety of photocatalytic reactions
The functional group defect combines the advantageous features of scitation.org/journal/apm nanostructure engineering and composition or heterojunction to manipulate the electronic structure and chemical composition, as well as for influencing the interactions between catalysts and the surrounding environment thereby endowing g-C3N4-based materials with fascinating electric, catalytic, and optical properties for widespread use.22–26. This crucial review focuses on the recent advancements and understanding in the fast-developing area of functional group defect engineering, which has been testified as a powerful strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4, including cyanamide/cyano moiety, urea group, oxygen-containing groups, and aromatic motifs
Apart from that, we reported a two-dimensional oxygenatedtriazine-heptazine-conjugated melon-based carbon nitride (TOHCN) nanoribbon,58 in which the oxygen-bearing functional groups of −−O− and −−OH were incorporated into the carbon nitride framework to construct an internal donor–acceptor heterostructure that could accelerate the charge separation as well as modulate the electronic structure to extend visible light absorption
Summary
Energy and environmental issues caused by fossil fuel consumption are the largest problems and challenges faced by the sustainable development of our national economy. The new discoveries from materials science and engineering are currently being designed to overcome the obstacles for efficient energy conversion and environmental protection. In the development of all kinds of renewable and new resources, semiconductor-based photocatalysis, only consuming inexhaustible and clean solar energy, has drawn international concern due to its various promising potential applications in solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. Besides using solar energy as a driving force, a proper semiconductor is absolutely required to carry out a variety of photocatalytic reactions. Hole pairs, and the poor surface adsorption and activation of reactant molecules, which greatly reduce the efficiency of the charge kinetics process and deteriorate the photocatalytic activity, hindering the practical applications.16–19 To overcome these shortcomings of g-C3N4, great efforts have been made to improve the photocatalytic performance, including nanostructure engineering, defect engineering, creation of composition, and heterojunction construction.. Scitation.org/journal/apm nanostructure engineering and composition or heterojunction to manipulate the electronic structure and chemical composition, as well as for influencing the interactions between catalysts and the surrounding environment thereby endowing g-C3N4-based materials with fascinating electric, catalytic, and optical properties for widespread use.22–26 This crucial review focuses on the recent advancements and understanding in the fast-developing area of functional group defect engineering, which has been testified as a powerful strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4, including cyanamide/cyano moiety, urea group, oxygen-containing groups, and aromatic motifs. Apart from this, the applications of these mono-functional group functionalized g-C3N4 and multi-functional group functionalized g-C3N4 in various photocatalytic reactions, such as water splitting, CO2 reduction, H2 evolution, the synthesis of ammonia, H2O2 production, and disinfection, will be discussed. The existing challenges and opportunities of the functional group functionalized g-C3N4 materials for future development will be highlighted at the end
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