摘要
Graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4) with efficient photocatalytic activity was synthesized through thermal polymerization of thiourea with the addition of water(CN-W) or ethanol(CN-E) at 550 ℃for 2 h.The physicochemical properties of the g-C3N4 were investigated by X-ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy,ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy,photoluminescence spectroscopy,diffuse-reflection spectroscopy,BET and BJH surface area characterization,and elemental analysis.The carbon content was found to have self-doped into the g-C3N4 matrix during the thermal polymerization of thiourea and ethanol.CN-W and CN-E showed considerably enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity,with NO removal percentages of 37.2%and 48.3%,respectively.Compared with pure g-C3N4,both the short and long lifetimes of the charge carriers in CN-W and CN-E were found to be prolonged.The mechanism of improved visible-light photocatalytic activity was deduced.The present work may provide a facile route to optimize the microstructure of g-C3N4photocatalysts for high-performance environmental and energy applications.
类石墨相氮化碳(g-C_3N_4)具有特殊的层状二维结构、独特的电子结构、合适的能带结构、良好的热稳定性和化学稳定性等理化性能,因而在可见光催化净化环境污染物领域广受关注.但原始块状g-C_3N_4的可见光催化活性较弱,还不能满足实际应用需求.因此,亟需开发一种高效的改性方法来提高g-C_3N_4的光催化性能.本课题组发展了一种有效的改进g-C_3N_4方法,以硫脲为前驱体,去离子水(制备样品标记为CN-W)或无水乙醇(制备样品标记为CN-E)为溶剂,通过一步高温缩聚制得具有高可见光催化性能的介孔g-C_3N_4.然而,对于不同溶剂效应原位改性g-C_3N_4及其增强可见光催化性能的机理还不清楚.因此,本文采用X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电镜(TEM)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis DRS)、荧光光谱(PL)、N_2吸附和元素分析等手段研究了去离子水和无水乙醇作为溶剂原位改性g-C_3N_4的理化性能差异及增强可见光催化性能的原因.XRD结果表明,去离子水和无水乙醇不会改变g-C_3N_4的晶体结构,但会抑制其晶体结构的生长.由TEM图像可见,因去离子水和无水乙醇在热聚合过程中产生的气泡可以作为软模板,导致CN-W和CN-E纳米片均为酥松多孔层状结构,其中CN-W更薄更小.元素分析测试结果表明,无水乙醇和硫脲在热聚合过程中导致碳自掺杂g-C_3N_4.UV-Vis DRS结果显示,CN-W和CN-E分别发生了相对的蓝移和红移现象.荧光寿命测试结果显示,CN的短荧光寿命和长荧光寿命(0.805 ns,3.269ns)明显高于CN-W(0.756 ns,3.125 ns)和CN-E(0.743 ns,2.749 ns),表明CN-W和CN-E纳米薄片可以促进光生电子的储存和往复运动,有利于光生电子的迁移.此外,通过理论计算得CN-E的电子迁移速率(1.04×10~8 s^(-1))明显快于CN-W(0.81×10~8s^(-1)),表明CN-E和CN-W都有利于光生电子的迁移猝灭.另外,BET-BJH测试结果显示,CN-W(32.73 m^2/g,0.22 cm^3/g)和CN-E(25.59 m^2/g,0.18 cm^3/g)的比表面积和孔容均显著高于未改性的g-C_3N_4(13.81 m^2/g,0.12 cm^3/g),表明溶剂和前驱体在热聚合过程中产生的H_20,C_2H_5OH,H_2S,CO_2和NH_3气体有利于层状结构和丰富孔结构的形成,因而CN-W和CN-E的比表面积和孔容显著增加.由此可见,无水乙醇和去离子水在辅助制备介孔g-C_3N_4过程中表现出不同的作用.可见光催化去除NO的测试结果表明,CN-E(48.3%)和CN-W(37.2%)的光催化活性明显高于g-C_3N_4(19.5%),CN-E和CN-W的可见光催化活性也明显优于我们以前报道的BiOBr、C掺杂TiO_2和BiOBr/C_3N_4异质结.结合表征结果,CN-E和CN-W可见光催化性能增强的原因主要有两个:(1)CN-E和CN-W增大的的比表面积和孔容有利于NO的吸附、反应中间产物的转移和提供更多的活性位点参与光催化氧化反应;(2)更薄的纳米片结构和C掺杂g-C_3N_4有利于促进光生电子的迁移,从而显著提高其光催化活性.
基金
supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (2016M592642)
Project from Chongqing Education Commission (KJ1600305)
Chongqing Basic Science and Advanced Technology Research (cstc2016jcyjAX0003)
the Start-up Foundation for Doctors of Chongqing Normal University (15XLB010, 15XLB014)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51478070, 51108487)
the Innovative Research Team of Chongqing (CXTDG201602014)~~