Unraveling fundamental active units in carbon nitride for photocatalytic oxidation reactions

Chaofeng Huang, Yaping Wen, Jin Ma, Dandan Dong, Yanfei Shen, Songqin Liu, Haibo Ma () and Yuanjian Zhang ()
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Chaofeng Huang: Southeast University
Yaping Wen: Nanjing University
Jin Ma: Southeast University
Dandan Dong: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Shihezi University
Yanfei Shen: Southeast University
Songqin Liu: Southeast University
Haibo Ma: Nanjing University
Yuanjian Zhang: Southeast University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Covalently bonded carbon nitride (CN) has stimulated extensive attention as a metal-free semiconductor. However, because of the complexity of polymeric structures, the acquisition of critical roles of each molecular constituent in CN for photocatalysis remains elusive. Herein, we clarify the fundamental active units of CN in photocatalysis by synthesizing CN with more detailed molecular structures. Enabled by microwave synthesis, the as-prepared CN consists of distinguishable melem (M1) and its incomplete condensed form (M2). We disclose rather than the traditional opinion of being involved in the whole photocatalytic processes, M1 and M2 make primary contributions in light absorption and charge separation, respectively. Meanwhile, oxygen molecules are unusually observed to be activated by participating in the photoexcited processes via electronic coupling mainly to M2. As a result, such CN has a higher activity, which was up to 8 times that of traditional bulk CN for photocatalytic oxidation of tetracycline in water.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20521-5

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