Facile synthesis of porous graphene-like carbon nitride (C₆N₉H₃) with excellent photocatalytic activity for NO removal

We reported the possible synthesis of a new porous graphene-like carbon nitride (C6N9H3) by simply adding hydrochloric acid in the precursor of block g-C₃N₄. The formation of the porous graphene-like C₆N₉H₃ can be attributed to the change in the thermal condensation modal of the precursor and the acidic condition induced by Cl⁻ and H⁺. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by the removal of NO under visible light illumination. We found that the porous graphene-like C₆N₉H₃ exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to the block g-C₃N₄. We also researched the removal mechanism and found that the removal of NO in our systems was due to the synergic effect of h⁺ and O₂⁻. This study could shed light on the design of efficient photocatalysts and facilitate a deep understanding of the NO removal mechanism through photocatalytic technology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.