Carbon vacancy in C3N4 nanotube: Electronic structure, photocatalysis mechanism and highly enhanced activity

[Display omitted] •Tubular g-C3N4 with carbon vacancy was obtained by pyrolysis under N2 atmosphere.•Carbon vacancy facilitates the adsorption of NO and O2 on the surface of g-C3N4.•Carbon vacancy accelerates the separation and transfer of photo-generated carriers.•g-C3N4 with carbon vacancy exhibit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Vol. 262; p. 118281
Main Authors: Li, Yuhan, Gu, Miaoli, Shi, Ting, Cui, Wen, Zhang, Xianming, Dong, Fan, Cheng, Jinshui, Fan, Jiajie, Lv, Kangle
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2020
Elsevier BV
Subjects:
C3N4 nanotubes
Carbon
Carbon nitride
Carbon vacancy
Charge transfer
Current carriers
Electronic structure
Melamine
Nanotechnology
Nanotubes
Oxidation
Photocatalysis
Photocatalytic oxidation
Pyrolysis
Reaction mechanism
Selectivity
Surface defect sites
Surface defects
Urea
Vacancies
Reaction mechanism
C3N4 nanotubes
Carbon vacancy
Photocatalytic oxidation
Surface defect sites
ISSN:0926-3373, 1873-3883
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:[Display omitted] •Tubular g-C3N4 with carbon vacancy was obtained by pyrolysis under N2 atmosphere.•Carbon vacancy facilitates the adsorption of NO and O2 on the surface of g-C3N4.•Carbon vacancy accelerates the separation and transfer of photo-generated carriers.•g-C3N4 with carbon vacancy exhibits improved visible photocatalytic NO oxidation. We demonstrated that carbon vacancy modified C3N4 nanotubes can be qualified for more efficient and selective oxidation of NO to NO3− under visible light illumination than the pristine counterpart. Tubular C3N4 with carbon vacancy was fabricated by facile pyrolysis of the hydrolyzed melamine-urea mixture under N2 gas. With the particular structural merits for tubular nanostructure and the introduction of suitable carbon vacancy density, richly available surface defect sites, and accelerated separation and transfer of photo-generated charge carriers, the as-prepared carbon vacancy modified C3N4 nanotubes exhibited an excellent photocatalytic NO oxidation performance. Based on ESR measurement and DFT calculation, the electronic structure of carbon vacancy was revealed. The surface carbon vacancy in C3N4 nanotubes can greatly facilitate the adsorption of NO and O2, therefore, leading to its superior photocatalytic selectivity in conversion of NO to NO3−. The present work provides new insights into the understanding of defective semiconductor photocatalysis.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0926-3373
1873-3883
DOI:10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118281