An instant, biocompatible and biodegradable high-performance graphitic carbon nitride

Shifei Kang, Zirou Fang, Maofen He, Mengya Chen, Yuqiong Gao, Di Sun, Yanfei Liu, Menglin Chen, Mingdong Dong, Ping Liu, Lifeng Cui

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Polymer graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) materials have attracted growing interest owing to their impressive applicability in photocatalysis and optoelectronic devices. However, further applications of g-C3N4 materials are greatly restricted by their chemical inertness and insolubility in most solvents. Regarding the rising prospect of g-C3N4 nanosheets in the biomedicalfield, high solubility and biocompatibility are required for the further development of g-C3N4 materials. In this study, a simple one-step thermal polymerization method was designed to prepare fast-soluble mesoporous g-C3N4 nanosheets by using NH4HSO4 as the critical adjuvant. The products, especially the optimal g-C3N4 NSs-4, showed impressive solubility, biocompatibility and partial biodegradability. The enriched surface hydrophilic groups (-NH2 and -OH) may contribute to improving the solubility of g-C3N4 nanosheets, while the partial biodegradability can be ascribed to the presence of the disulfide bond in the g-C3N4 framework. In this system, the NH4HSO4 adjuvant acted not only as O and S sources, but also as a bubbling agent that endows the g-C3N4 a porous structure with greatly enlarged specific surface area and high separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. These integrative positive factors also greatly contributed to the photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4 nanosheets. This facile, economic and general fabrication strategy for mesoporous, fast-soluble and biocompatible g-C3N4 with superior visible-light photocatalytic activity is promising in environmental, energy and biomedical fields.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Volume563
Pages (from-to)336-346
Number of pages11
ISSN0021-9797
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Biocompatible
  • Biodegradable
  • Fast-soluble
  • Graphitic carbon nitride
  • NH HSO

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