Multilevel reconstruction of g-C3N4 nanorings via natural pollen for remarkable photocatalysis

Abstract

Inspired by the multilevel reconstruction effect of natural pollen, a g-C3N4 nanoring with an abundant heteroatoms (C) doping, porous hollow structure, and high surface area has been constructed for the efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. Briefly, under the dual action of hydrothermal reaction and heat treatment, the added pollen can reconstruct g-C3N4 at the atomic scale (heteroatom doping) and macroscopic scale (irregular bulk to nanoring). Consequently, the fabricated g-C3N4 nanoring enables increased specific surface area, reduced band gap width, improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, and enhanced and broadened visible light absorption. Therefore, the optimal g-C3N4 nanoring achieves a high photocatalytic activity for methyl orange, and a degradation rate of 95.5% after 120 min, indicating that it exhibits remarkable photocatalytic activity and kinetics. This novel strategy affords an accessible pathway to design efficient photocatalysts and throws light on the multilevel construction of photocatalysts.