Abstract
A series of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mg-C3N4) materials have been prepared with urea and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the precursors, which were thermally polycondensed to obtain the g-C3N4/silica composites, after silica was removed, mg-C3N4 with large surface area (170 m2 g-1) was successfully prepared. Excitingly, TEOS did not only act as a mesoporous-directing agent but also as the promoter for the urea polycondensation to g-C3N4, which made the urea polycondensation proceed at relatively low temperature. Thus, volatilization or/and decomposition of urea in the process of thermal treatment were reduced, resulting in the product yield of g-C3N4 from 0.3 to 0.4 g/10 g urea remarkably increasing to 1.2 g/10 g urea. Moreover, superior photocatalytic activities were observed for degrading methyl orange (MO) and H2 generation from water splitting over the mg-C3N4 photocatalyst. The facilely developed method for high-yield mesoporous g-C3N4 from cost-effective urea was more attractive for its wide applications in environmental treatment and energy development fields.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3412-3419 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Nov 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- High yield
- Mesoporous g-CN
- TEOS
- Urea
- Visible-light catalysis