Article Title

Template-free large-scale synthesis of g-C₃N₄ microtubes for enhanced visible light-driven photocatalytic H₂ production

Authors

Chao Zhou, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Run Shi, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Lu Shang, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Li-Zhu Wu, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Chen-Ho Tung, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Tierui Zhang, Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Keywords

g-C3N4, microtubes, photocatalytic, water splitting, visible light response

Abstract

ABSTRACT A template-free hydrothermal-assisted thermal polymerization method has been developed for the large-scale synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) microtubes. The g-C3N4 microtubes were obtained by simple thermal polymerization of melamine-cyanuric acid complex microrods under N2 atmosphere, which were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of melamine solution at 180 °C for 24 h. The as-obtained g-C3N4 microtubes exhibited a large surface area and a unique one-dimensional tubular structure, which provided abundant active sites for proton reduction and also facilitated the electron transfer processes. As such, the g-C3N4 microtubes showed enhanced photocatalytic H2 production activity in lactic acid aqueous solutions under visible light irradiation ( ≥ 420 nm), which was ~ 3.1 times higher than that of bulk g-C3N4 prepared by direct thermal polymerization of the melamine precursor under the same calcination conditions.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2003-2

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Chao Zhou,Run Shi,Lu Shang,Li-Zhu Wu,Chen-Ho Tung,Tierui Zhang, Template-free large-scale synthesis of g-C3N4 microtubes for enhanced visible light-driven photocatalytic H2 production. NanoRes.2018, 11(6): 3462–3468