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From Melamine‐Cyanuric Acid Supramolecular Aggregates to Carbon Nitride Hollow Spheres
Author(s) -
Jun YoungSi,
Lee Eun Zoo,
Wang Xinchen,
Hong Won Hi,
Stucky Galen D.,
Thomas Arne
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201203732
Subject(s) - materials science , cyanuric acid , melamine , photodegradation , carbon nitride , mesoporous material , graphitic carbon nitride , chemical engineering , catalysis , photocatalysis , carbon fibers , triazine , photochemistry , organic chemistry , polymer chemistry , chemistry , composite material , composite number , engineering
Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐CN) is a promising heterogeneous metal‐free catalyst for organic photosynthesis, solar energy conversion, and photodegradation of pollutants. Its catalytic performance is easily adjustable by modifying texture, optical, and electronic properties via nanocasting, doping, and copolymerization. However, simultaneous optimization has yet to be achieved. Here, a facile synthesis of mesoporous g‐CN using molecular cooperative assembly between triazine molecules is reported. Flower‐like, layered spherical aggregates of melamine cyanuric acid complex (MCA) are formed by precipitation from equimolecular mixtures in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Thermal polycondensation of MCA under nitrogen at 550 °C produces mesoporous hollow spheres comprised of tri‐ s ‐triazine based g‐CN nanosheets (MCA‐CN) with the composition of C 3 N 4.14 H 1.98 . The layered structure succeeded from MCA induces stronger optical absorption, widens the bandgap by 0.16 eV, and increases the lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers by twice compared to that of the bulk g‐CN, while the chemical structure remains similar to that of the bulk g‐CN. As a result of these simultaneous modifications, the photodegradation kinetics of rhodamine B on the catalyst surface can be improved by 10 times.