Biological templating methods of graphitic carbon nitride

Yang, Zhao (2016). Biological templating methods of graphitic carbon nitride. University of Birmingham. M.Sc.

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Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) is a semiconductor material that only consists of carbon and nitrogen, and has shown potential for applications such as photocatalytic water splitting and photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion of solar energy into chemical fuel. As a promising candidate for sustainable materials, g-CN possesses advantages such as low cost, high physical and chemical stability and visible light sensitivity. However, the conversion efficiency of g-CN to convert sunlight into chemical energy is still low, which is ascribed to the dense materials with low surface area that are produced by standard synthesis method. To overcome this, templating method is a good choice to change the structure and morphology of g-CN and introduce porosity. The key advantages and challenges of templating methods arediscussed in Chapter 1.
In Chapter 3, different biopolymers are used as the templates to generate mesoporous g-CN, due to their unique properties. To further enhance photocatalytic activity of g-CN, a "triple-templating" approach (including biopolymer, air produced by freeze drying process and MgO formed in-situ) is firstly employed in this thesis to introduce pores on several length-scales, which has shown a good performance in degradation of Rhodamine B solution. Overall, the biotemplated g-CN proposed in this thesis not only displays improved photocatalytic properties, but is also easy to synthesize and environmentally friendly.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Sc.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Sc.

Supervisor(s):