A comparative study between thermal etching and liquid exfoliation of bulk graphitic carbon nitride to nanosheets for the photocatalytic degradation of a model environmental pollutant, Rhodamine B

Impact of graphitic carbon nitrides synthesized from different precursors on Schottky junction characteristics

“…A series of graphitic carbon nitrides were synthesized from the most commonly used precursors in literature, which are melamine, urea, thiourea, and guanidine hydrochloride, using the same thermal polycondensation method [32]. It is known that prolonged reaction time causes thermal oxidation process which resulted exfoliation of the bulk carbon nitrides into smaller sheets (thermal exfoliation) [33,34]. Therefore, g-CNs were synthesized by the method used for the thermally exfoliated g-CN with the highest surface area, ever [32].…”

“…For instance, the smoothest surface 2b). The shifts to these lower angles correspond to an increase in the spacing of the interlayer which may be due to the prolonged pyrolysis time causing the separation and buckling of the nanosheets, thus making the materials more amorphous [34]. In other words, it can be stated that g-CN(M) has the most crystalline bulk structure while g-CN(U) has the least crystalline and exfoliated structure.…”

Challenges surrounding nanosheets and their application to solar-driven photocatalytic water treatment

“…59 Thus the synthesis route plays a key role, impacting morphology, defect density, and ultimately, photocatalytic performance. 111…”

“…189 Depending on the purpose, this type of synthesis can have beneficial effects on the performance of the photocatalyst. 111 This approach is most prominently used in conjunction with g-C 3 N 4 , where it has been proven as a highly effective photocatalyst. 190 In contrast, thermal annealing of graphite produces highly defective graphene, which does not perform well as a charge carrier, but can be used as a photocatalyst in its own right.…”

Performance of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets derived from liquid and thermal exfoliations towards the electrochemical reduction of nitrobenzene

“…3 To improve the performance of B-GN, researchers have attempted different strategies, which include doping with different nanomaterials and exfoliation into nanosheets. [4][5][6][7][8] Among these, exfoliation is the best method because it is less expensive and involves simple procedures. Liquid, chemical blowing and thermal exfoliations are the commonly employed methods to exfoliate B-GN into nanosheets.…”