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Helical Graphitic Carbon Nitrides with Photocatalytic and Optical Activities
Author(s) -
Zheng Yun,
Lin Lihua,
Ye Xiangju,
Guo Fangsong,
Wang Xinchen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201407319
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , graphitic carbon nitride , carbon nitride , materials science , semiconductor , nanotechnology , carbon fibers , chirality (physics) , nitride , nanostructure , optoelectronics , catalysis , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , layer (electronics) , chiral symmetry breaking , physics , quantum mechanics , composite number , nambu–jona lasinio model , quark
Abstract Graphitic carbon nitride can be imprinted with a twisted hexagonal rod‐like morphology by a nanocasting technique using chiral silicon dioxides as templates. The helical nanoarchitectures promote charge separation and mass transfer of carbon nitride semiconductors, enabling it to act as a more efficient photocatalyst for water splitting and CO 2 reduction than the pristine carbon nitride polymer. This is to our knowledge a unique example of chiral graphitic carbon nitride that features both left‐ and right‐handed helical nanostructures and exhibits unique optical activity to circularly polarized light at the semiconductor absorption edge as well as photoredox activity for solar‐to‐chemical conversion. Such helical nanostructured polymeric semiconductors are envisaged to hold great promise for a range of applications that rely on such semiconductor properties as well as chirality for photocatalysis, asymmetric catalysis, chiral recognition, nanotechnology, and chemical sensing.