Plasma-exfoliated g-C3N4 with oxygen doping: tailoring photocatalytic properties
Yuxin Li, Junxin Guo, Rui Han, Zhao Wang()
National Engineering Research Centre of Industry Crystallization Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Heteroatom doping and defect engineering have been proposed as effective ways to modulate the energy band structure and improve the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4. In this work, ultrathin defective g-C3N4 was successfully prepared using cold plasma. Plasma exfoliation reduces the thickness of g-C3N4 from 10 nm to 3 nm, while simultaneously introducing a large number of nitrogen defects and oxygen atoms into g-C3N4. The amount of doped O was regulated by varying the time and power of the plasma treatment. Due to N vacancies, O atoms formed strong bonds with C atoms, resulting in O doping in g-C3N4. The mechanism of plasma treatment involves oxygen etching and gas expansion. Photocatalytic experiments demonstrated that appropriate amount of O doping improved the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B compared with pure g-C3N4. The introduction of O optimized the energy band structure and photoelectric properties of g-C3N4. Active species trapping experiments revealed ·O2– as the main active species during the degradation.
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