Low-temperature solvothermal–calcination preparation and enhanced photocatalytic performance of polymeric graphitic carbon nitride with disordered–ordered hybrid plane

Abstract

In this paper, polymeric graphitic carbon nitride (pgCN) with disordered in-plane and ordered inter-plane structure was prepared via a two-step method of low-temperature solvothermal synthesis and post-calcination, using dicyandiamide and cyanuric chloride mixture as raw materials and acetonitrile as solvent. Disordered in-plane structure of the pgCN was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron diffraction (ED). The microstructure, chemical states, bandgap, charge migration and photocatalytic performance of the pgCN were compared with that of classic bulk graphitic carbon nitride (bulk g-C3N4) obtained from melamine by calcination and its post-hydrothermal product. The pgCN showed highly efficient in both the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) benefiting from disordered–ordered hybrid plane structure which can inhibit photoelectron recombination and provide higher charge separation efficiency. Under visible light irradiation, the average HER rate of pgCN could reach 4541 μmol h−1 g−1, which is 18.2 times higher than that of bulk g-C3N4 crystal.