Preparation of graphitic carbon nitride by electrodeposition

The CN_x thin film was deposited on Si(100) substrate from a saturated acetone solution of cyanuric trichloride and melamine (cyanuric trichloride/melamine=1: 1.5) at room temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the diffraction peaks in the pattern coincided well with those of graphite-like carbon nitride calculated in the literature. The lattice constants (a=4.79 Å, c=6.90 Å) for g-C₃N₄ matched with those of ab initio calculations (a=4.74 Å, c=6.72 Å) quite well. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicated that the elements in the deposited films were mostly of C and N (N/C=0.75), and N (400.00 eV) bonded with C (287.72 eV) in the form of six-member C ₃N₃ ring. The peaks at 800 cm^-1, 1310 cm ^-1 and 1610 cm^-1 in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum indicated that triazine ring existed in the product. These results demonstrated that crystalline g-C₃N₄ was obtained in the CN_x film.