On mechanism of the synthesis of boron-doped graphitic carbon nitride

Abstract

B-doped graphitic carbon nitrides (B-CNs) represent a promising class of materials that are potentially useful in a variety of applications. Their properties depend on the nature of the B-doping, which in turn is highly dependent on the particular chemical mechanism of B-doping formation. With this in mind, we present here the study of B-doping achieved by the co-calcination of CN-precursor (cyanoguanidine) and B-dopant (boric acid).In this study, the structural theory of the B-CN materials produced from different ratios of CN precursor and B-dopant was derived. Our proposed structure is supported by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Based on our results, heptazine carbon replacing tetravalent B- species near the =N+=C=N- structural unit is the dominant pattern of B doping in our co-calcined materials. The identification of the nature of the B-doping allowed us to infer the mechanism of its formation in the chemical reactions taking place during calcination.