One-pot synthesis of porous g-C3N4 nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

Porous graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (PMCNS) photocatalyst with a specific surface area of 92.75 m2 g-1 was prepared by ammonium carbonate guide structure in a one-pot strategy. Compared with bulk graphitic carbon nitride (MCN), the pores in the PMCNS formed by curling and sealing of the lamella provide more active sites, which promote charge separation and transfer, and inhibit the recombination of photoexcited electron and hole pairs. To confirm our strategy, the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and hydrogen evolution ability of PMCNS under visible light were performed, and a significant enhancement was observed, the efficiencies are 12.8 and 3.8 times that of MCN, respectively. This work provides an approach for reconstruction of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) structure to improve the photocatalytic oxidation and reduction capabilities under visible light.