One-pot fabrication of porous nitrogen-deficient g-C3N4 with superior photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Porous nitrogen-deficient graphic carbon nitride (PNCN) was fabricated by using acetic acid (HAc)-treated melamine as precursor via one-pot method. The as-prepared PNCN photocatalysts possess a loose porous structure with nitrogen deficiencies due to the decomposition of HAc during calcination process. The PNCN photocatalyst exhibits the rate constant of RhB degradation (1.92 h−1) and H2 evolution rate (257.5 μmol g−1 h−1) for ∼4.6 and ∼2.5 times of pristine g-C3N4 under visible light irradiation, respectively. The mesoporous structure can increase the specific surface area of PNCN (19.24 m2 g-1), thereby rendering ample active sites and facilitating visible-light utilization. The moderate nitrogen deficiencies can not only substantially enhance photocurrent density and interfacial charge transfer, but also restrain the recombination of photo-generated carriers. In addition, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation further provides insight into the photocatalytic mechanism over PNCN. This study may present a facile and scalable method to fabricate PNCN with superior photocatalytic performance, which may hold great promise in practical applications.