As a fascinating conjugated polymer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has become a new research hotspot and drawn broad interdisciplinary attention as a metal-free and visible-light-responsive photocatalyst in the arena of solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. This is due to its appealing electronic band structure, high physicochemical stability, and “earth-abundant” nature. This critical review summarizes a panorama of the latest progress related to the design and construction of pristine g-C3N4 and g-C3N4-based nanocomposites, including (1) nanoarchitecture design of bare g-C3N4, such as hard and soft templating approaches, supramolecular preorganization assembly, exfoliation, and template-free synthesis routes, (2) functionalization of g-C3N4 at an atomic level (elemental doping) and molecular level (copolymerization), and (3) modification of g-C3N4 with well-matched energy levels of another semiconductor or a metal as a cocatalyst to form heterojunction nanostructures. The constructi...

Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4)-Based Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis and Environmental Remediation: Are We a Step Closer To Achieving Sustainability?

A review on g-C3N4-based photocatalysts

Direct Z-scheme photocatalysts: Principles, synthesis, and applications

One-dimensional TiO2 (1D TiO2) nanomaterials with unique structural and functional properties have been extensively used in various fields including photocatalytic degradation of pollutants, photocatalytic CO2 reduction into energy fuels, water splitting, solar cells, supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries. In the past few decades, 1D TiO2 nanostructured materials with a well-controlled size and morphology have been designed and synthesized. Compared to 0D and 2D nanostructures, more attention has been paid to 1D TiO2 nanostructures due to their high aspect ratio, large specific surface area, and excellent electronic or ionic charge transport properties. In this review, we present the crystal structure of TiO2 and the latest development on the fabrication of 1D TiO2 nanostructured materials. Besides, we will look into some critical engineering strategies that give rise to the excellent properties of 1D TiO2 nanostructures such as improved enlargement of the surface area, light absorption and efficient separation of electrons/holes that benefit their potential applications. Moreover, their corresponding environmental and energy applications are described and discussed. With the fast development of the current economy and technology, more and more effort will be put into endowing TiO2-based materials with advanced functionalities and other promising applications.

A review of one-dimensional TiO2 nanostructured materials for environmental and energy applications

The controlled synthesis of nanohybrids composed of noble metals (Au, Ag, Pt and Pd, as well as AuAg alloy) and metal oxides (ZnO, TiO2, Cu2O and CeO2) have received considerable attention for applications in photocatalysis, solar cells, drug delivery, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and many other important areas. The overall architecture of nanocomposites is one of the most important factors dictating the physical properties of nanohybrids. Noble metals can be coupled to metal oxides to yield diversified nanostructures, including noble metal decorated-metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), nanoarrays, noble metal/metal oxide core/shell, noble metal/metal oxide yolk/shell and Janus noble metal–metal oxide nanostructures. In this review, we focus on the significant advances in tailored nanostructures of noble metal–metal oxide nanohybrids. The improvement in performance in the representative solar energy conversion applications including photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants, photocatalytic hydrogen generation, photocatalytic CO2 reduction, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are discussed. Finally, we conclude with a perspective on the future direction and prospects of these controllable nanohybrid materials.

Noble metal–metal oxide nanohybrids with tailored nanostructures for efficient solar energy conversion, photocatalysis and environmental remediation

It is curial to develop a high-efficient, low-cost visible-light responsive photocatalyst for the application in solar energy conversion and environment remediation. Here, a three-dimensional (3D) porous g-C3N4/graphene oxide aerogel (CNGA) has been prepared by the hydrothermal coassembly of two-dimensional g-C3N4 and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, in which g-C3N4 acts as an efficient photocatalyst, and GO supports the 3D framework and promotes the electron transfer simultaneously. In CNGA, the highly interconnected porous network renders numerous pathways for rapid mass transport, strong adsorption and multireflection of incident light; meanwhile, the large planar interface between g-C3N4 and GO nanosheets increases the active site and electron transfer rate. Consequently, the methyl orange removal ratio over the CNGA photocatalyst reaches up to 92% within 4 h, which is much higher than that of pure g-C3N4 (12%), 2D hybrid counterpart (30%) and most of representative g-C3N4-based photocatalysts. In addi...

Three-Dimensional Porous Aerogel Constructed by g-C3N4 and Graphene Oxide Nanosheets with Excellent Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance

A tubular g-C3 N4 isotype heterojunction (TCNH) photocatalyst was designed for cooperative manipulation of the oriented transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes to pursue high catalytic performance. The adduct of cyanuric acid and melamine (CA·M) is first hydrothermally treated to assemble into hexagonal prism crystals; then the hybrid precursors of urea and CA·M crystals are calcined to form tubular g-C3 N4 isotype heterojunctions. Upon visible-light irradiation, the photogenerated electrons transfer from g-C3 N4 (CA·M) to g-C3 N4 (urea) driven by the conduction band offset of 0.05 eV, while the photogenerated holes transfer from g-C3 N4 (urea) to g-C3 N4 (CA·M) driven by the valence band offset of 0.18 eV, which renders oriented transfer of the charge carriers across the heterojunction interface. Meanwhile, the tubular structure of TCNH is favorable for oriented electron transfer along the longitudinal dimension, which greatly decreases the chance of charge carrier recombination. Consequently, TCNH exhibits a high hydrogen evolution rate of 63 μmol h(-1) (0.04 g, λ > 420 nm), which is nearly five times of the pristine g-C3 N4 and higher than most of the existing g-C3 N4 photocatalysts. This study demonstrates that isotype heterojunction structure and tubular structure can jointly manipulate the oriented transfer of electrons and holes, thus facilitating the visible-light photocatalysis.

Tubular g-C3 N4 Isotype Heterojunction: Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity through Cooperative Manipulation of Oriented Electron and Hole Transfer.

Inspired by the bioadhesion mechanism found in mussel, a catechol derivative, 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (diHPP), is employed as both linker and reducer of Ag+ to synthesize the Ag/TiO2 nanotube (Ag/TNT) heterojunction under ambient conditions in this study. In the prepared Ag/TNT composite, Ag nanocrystals about 3.8 nm in diameter distribute over the TNT surface uniformly and form the heterojunction structure with TNT. The diHPP first links to the TNT surface through the bidentate chelation of catechol group with Ti4+ and then acts as both an anchor and a reducer to in situ nucleate and grow Ag nanocrystals on the TNT surface. By adjusting the AgNO3 concentration, the loading amount of Ag nanocrystals on the TNT surface can be controlled easily, and the visible-light absorption ability of Ag/TNT heterojunctions enhances with increasing the Ag loading amount. Moreover, their photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation capability of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The Ag/TNT ...

Yuanyuan Sun

Papers

Three-Dimensional Porous Aerogel Constructed by g-C3N4 and Graphene Oxide Nanosheets with Excellent Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance

Tubular g-C3 N4 Isotype Heterojunction: Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity through Cooperative Manipulation of Oriented Electron and Hole Transfer.

Synthesis of Ag/TiO2 Nanotube Heterojunction with Improved Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance Inspired by Bioadhesion

Fabrication of bimodal-pore SrTiO3 microspheres with excellent photocatalytic performance for Cr(VI) reduction under simulated sunlight.

Fabrication of nanoplate-like g-C3N4/Bi12TiO20 heterojunction with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity