Moderate Bacterial Etching Allows Scalable and Clean Delamination of g-C₃N₄ with Enriched Unpaired Electrons for Highly Improved Photocatalytic Water Disinfection

Abstract

Delamination treatment is crucial in promoting the activity of bulk graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN). However, most of the currently used methods of exfoliating bulk g-CN to achieve g-CN thin layers suffer from low yield and environmental pollution. Herein, we developed a facile bacterial etching approach for the preparation of high-quality g-CN nanosheets by exfoliating bulk g-CN under room temperature. Morphology and physicochemical characterizations show that the bacteria-treated g-CN (BT-CN) samples, especially BT-CN-2d, have a lamina-like two-dimensional (2D) in-plane porous structure, a significantly enlarged specific surface area (82.61 m g), and a remarkable narrow band gap (2.11 eV). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra confirm the dramatic enrichment of unpaired electron in the BT-CN-2d g-CN nanosheets. EIS spectra and photocurrent tests indicate the fast electron transportation. As a result, the representative BT-CN-2d g-CN photocatalyst shows an optimal visible light-driven photocatalytic performance in water disinfection (fourfold higher than bulk g-CN), as well as good cycle stability. This moderate and clean bacterial etching process can be realized in tens of gram scale in the laboratory and should be readily extended to kilogram scale. The present work provides fundamental knowledge about the scalable production of high-quality g-CN by bioengineering method, offering extendable availability for designing and fabricating other functional 2D materials.

Optically and Electrocatalytically Decoupled Si Photocathodes with a Porous Carbon Nitride Catalyst for Nitrogen Reduction with Over 61.8% Faradaic Efficiency

“…As can be seen from Figure S4 in the Supporting Information, the intensity of triazine ring (CN) bending frequency at 810 cm −1 is decreased substantially in the case of Au/PCN than bare CN, which can be attributed to the deformation of CN bonds. [ 36 ] On the other hand, a prominent decrease observed in the aromatic skeleton vibration peaks ranged from 1200 to 1600 cm –1 indicates the perturbation of aromatic ring due to defective site formation. Moreover, compared to bare CN, a clear blueshift is noted in triazine ring (CN) bending frequency which suggests the change in the electron densities due to the presence of Au on the PCN surface.…”

Visible-light-driven Ag/Bi3O4Cl nanocomposite photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of tetracycline

“…Furthermore, the EIS electrochemical method effectively testied to the electron-transfer efficiency on the electrodes. [45][46][47][48][49][50] As is well-known, a smaller circular radius indicates a higher mobility and separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. It could be observed from the Nyquist plots (Fig.…”

Black Phosphorus, a Rising Star 2D Nanomaterial in the Post‐Graphene Era: Synthesis, Properties, Modifications, and Photocatalysis Applications

“…Sunlight, one of easily accessible, environmental friendly, and inexhaustible energy, has been thought to be an ideal power to initiate another energy production and pollution abatement . Especially, the semiconductor‐based photocatalysis has been proved to be a sustainable, renewable, and cost‐efficient technique to conquer above‐mentioned problems by implementing different catalytic reactions such as hydrogen evolution, carbon dioxide reduction, organic decomposition, nitrogen fixation, and bacterial disinfection with the help of sunlight. And the most critical role in photocatalysis technology is to develop highly efficient photocatalyst which possesses high light utilization efficiency and narrow bandgap.…”