Operando ATR-FTIR elucidation of surface-mediated photocatalytic pathways on metal-free nanomaterials.

Rationally engineered cyano-modified graphite carbon nitride for enhanced electrochemiluminescence and sensitive perfluorooctanoic acid sensing.

Graphitic carbon nitride interfaces for lipase Immobilization: Molecular insights into stability and kinetic resolution

Rational design of a molybdenum disulfide nanorod and bismuth molybdate embedded in graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of hazardous pollutants

Net-zero strategies through valorization of nylon-6 and steel slag: production of syngas and an environmental catalyst for bisphenol A remediation.

Off - on fluorescent probe using sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for detection of copper ion and cysteine

Fe-N5 single-atom sites on C3N4 enable ultrasensitive electrochemical sensing of hydrogen sulfide in bone metastatic microenvironments.

g-C3N4/transition metal dichalcogenide hybrid assemblies for emerging pharmaceutical drug detection: Recent advances in electrochemical sensing.

Ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical aptasensor for sulfadiazine detection enhanced by taxifolin-boosted 3D porous g-C3N4.

Fabrication of multifunctional membranes via integrating g-C3N4 with Fe single-atom sites for efficient wastewater treatment.

Diabetic keratopathy (DK) is a prevalent ocular surface complication of diabetes, frequently unnoticed until significant structural and functional deterioration occurs. Chronic hyperglycemic stress promotes inflammation in the corneal epithelial-neural-immune (epineuroimmune) unit, impeding tissue recovery and increasing infection susceptibility. To address this metabolic-immune-infection imbalance, we developed a light-regulated biomimetic catalytic platform (WCNx-Rh2) that integrates glucose degradation and monitoring, immune-modulated epithelial-neural regeneration, and antibacterial defense. This platform features an S-scheme heterojunction (WCNx) composed of graphitic carbon nitride and tungsten oxide, enabling visible-light (VIS)-driven glucose degradation, dark-state colorimetric detection, and near-infrared (NIR) photothermal antibacterial activity. Complementarily, the loaded ginsenoside Rh2-identified via systematic screening-inhibits the Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway. The combined action of WCNx and Rh2 reduces advanced glycation end products (AGEs), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and inflammatory signaling, reprogramming dendritic cell function to restore epineuroimmune homeostasis and drive tissue repair. These functions were validated in two animal models. In diabetic mice, VIS-irradiated WCNx-Rh2 accelerated corneal epithelial and nerve recovery. In a diabetic keratitis model, NIR-activated WCNx-Rh2 enabled effective corneal bacterial eradication and tissue repair. Overall, this work establishes a light-driven metabolic-modulation biomimetic paradigm and proposes an integrated strategy for managing DK.

Corrugation, nanocrystallinity, and midgap states in phosphorus-modified graphitic carbon nitride

Decorating graphitic carbon nitride monolayer with cobalt-incorporated Pd4 and Pt4 nanoparticles for reversible hydrogen storage

The photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into value-added fuels and chemicals is a promising route to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while enabling sustainable energy storage. This study investigates the use of catalysts composed of exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride modified with either single-atom Ni sites or Pt nanoparticles for photo-thermal CO2 hydrogenation under combined light irradiation and thermal activation. The photocatalysts have been extensively characterized by different physico-chemical techniques, allowing the study of structure-activity relationships. Both metal-modified catalysts exhibit significantly enhanced CO2 conversion compared to pristine g-C3N4, which is attributed to improved light absorption, reduced charge recombination, and the role of metals as catalytically active sites. However, the catalytic behaviour varies markedly depending on the metal. Pt nanoparticles promote a thermally driven pathway assisted by light, enhancing overall activity and favouring CO formation, whereas Ni single-atom sites preserve the photocatalytic character of the support and shift the selectivity of hydrogenation towards methanol rather than methane primarily obtained over metal-free C3N4. These findings indicate that the combined photonic and thermal energy inputs efficiently activate both CO2 and H2, accelerating reaction kinetics and modifying reaction pathways beyond those achieved in purely thermal or purely photocatalytic systems.

Decorating graphitic carbon nitride with rich carbon vacancies from melamine/2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid supramolecular self-assembly for visible-light photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the primary cause of dementia, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that requires early diagnosis using noninvasive biosensing strategies. Salivary lactoferrin has consequently emerged as a compelling early-stage AD biomarker, as its dysregulated expression reflects underlying neuroinflammatory mechanisms associated with disease initiation and progression. Accordingly, we report an innovative aptamer-based electrochemical aptasensor for noninvasive and accurate biosensing of salivary lactoferrin (Lf). The design approach involves fabricating gold screen-printed electrodes (gSPEs) with in situ prepared porous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) xerogel using coprecipitation with the amino acid l-cysteine (l-Cys), followed by surface immobilization of the Lf aptamer and subsequent blocking with 6-mercapto-1-hexanol (MCH) via drop-casting. Structural and electrochemical characterizations indicate successful xerogel synthesis, where l-Cys acts as an interlayer-bridging agent, achieving high specificity and superior performance within a broad detection range of 0.5-500 μg mL-1 based on the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. The aptasensor exhibits a significantly high sensitivity of 89.22 μA (log10 μg mL-1)-1 cm-2 and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.34 μg mL-1 in the artificial saliva samples. Furthermore, our fabricated sensor shows good reproducibility and repeatability with %RSD values well below 5%, thereby strengthening the utility of our novel biosensor design for applications in the timely detection of AD biomarker in body fluids, both within clinical settings as well as in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics.

An "inside-outside" synergistic modification strategy is proposed to construct a photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing platform based on a boron-doped carbon nitride/nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dot (BCN/NCQDs) heterojunction. The inside modification refers to boron doping within graphitic carbon nitride to modulate its electronic structure, narrowing the bandgap and extending visible light absorption. The outside modification involves the formation of a 0D/2D heterointerface with NCQDs, which establishes a built-in electric field to facilitate directional charge separation. Material characterization shows that the heterojunction exhibits a photocurrent response of approximately 1100 nA and enhanced charge separation efficiency. An aptamer-functionalized PEC sensor was fabricated for the detection of sulfadiazine, yielding a linear range from 0.01 to 1000ng/mL and a detection limit of 2.7pM. The sensor shows selectivity, reproducibility (RSD = 3.253%), and stability in operation. In real water and milk samples, recoveries range from 98.53 to 104.73%, consistent with chromatographic methods. This work presents a strategy for designing photoelectrochemical materials and biosensors.

Advanced graphitic carbon nitride based materials for biomedical applications: Theoretical and experimental aspects

Identifying and understanding active sites in single-atom catalysts (SACs) remains a fundamental challenge, particularly under working conditions. Here, taking platinum (Pt) single atoms loaded on graphitic carbon nitride as a prototypical SAC model, we track the ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics with three different initial coordination environments via real-time time-dependent density functional theory. Our results demonstrate that single Pt atoms coordinated with three nitrogen atoms form a highly photoactive center, significantly enhancing light absorption and promoting efficient spatial separation of photogenerated carriers. Notably, compared to other environments, the critical interplay between the dynamic evolution of local atomic configurations and oxidation state of Pt during the reaction synergistically enhances the catalytic activity of single atoms, that is, stimulating an effective charge transfer to the antibonding orbital of the adsorbate molecule and ultimately leading to successive water splitting. These findings provide microscopic mechanistic insights into the working state of active sites and offer valuable guidance for rational design of SACs.

An atomically vanadium-decorated N-defect-rich graphitic carbon nitride (V-CNR-Nd) nanozyme was rationally designed and synthesized via a facile one-pot strategy. The observed enhanced peroxidase (POD)-like activity is likely attributed to the synergistic effect of atomic V sites (V4+/V5+) and abundant N defects in the g-C3N4 matrix, which appears to facilitate electron transfer and boost the production of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) through a Fenton-like reaction, resulting in the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) with a pronounced color change. Leveraging this, a cascade colorimetric biosensor was established by integrating V-CNR-Nd with Sarcosine oxidase (SOX) for the specific detection of sarcosine (Sar). This platform showed a favorable linear range of 5-300 µM with a low detection limit (LOD) of 0.54 µM, combined with satisfactory anti-interference capability, stability, and reproducibility in complex matrices. Crucially, for real urine analysis, the platform delivered results in high concordance with a commercial assay kit, supported by satisfactory spiked recoveries of 94.32%-102.43% and low relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 1.87%-2.92%. Collectively, this work demonstrates a potential single-atom nanozyme-based cascade platform, offering a promising and non-invasive alternative for the clinical monitoring of metabolic disorders.