Graphitic carbon nitride materials: controllable synthesis and applications in fuel cells and photocatalysis

TLDR

Graphitic carbon nitride (g‑C₃N₄) has attracted attention for its predicted unique properties and emerging roles in photocatalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, and fuel cells, and recent advances have produced a variety of nanostructured and nanoporous forms for new applications. This feature article reviews how to synthesize g‑C₃N₄ nanomaterials with controllable structure and morphology and categorizes their use as multifunctional, metal‑free catalysts for environmental protection, energy conversion, and storage. The authors outline synthesis strategies that tailor nanostructure and morphology, then classify the resulting materials according to their catalytic functions in artificial photocatalysis for hydrogen production, oxygen‑reduction reactions in fuel cells, and metal‑free heterogeneous catalysis. The perspective concludes by identifying key challenges that must be addressed to advance these promising research areas.

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) are becoming increasingly significant due to the theoretical prediction of their unusual properties and promising applications ranging from photocatalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, to fuel cells. Recently, a variety of nanostructured and nanoporous g-C3N4 materials have been developed for a wide range of new applications. This feature article gives, at first, an overview on the synthesis of g-C3N4 nanomaterials with controllable structure and morphology, and secondly, presents and categorizes applications of g-C3N4 as multifunctional metal-free catalysts for environmental protection, energy conversion and storage. A special emphasis is placed on the potential applications of nanostructured g-C3N4 in the areas of artificial photocatalysis for hydrogen production, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cells, and metal-free heterogeneous catalysis. Finally, this perspective highlights crucial issues that should be addressed in the future in the aforementioned exciting research areas.