A facile and rapid route for synthesis of g-C3N4 nanosheets with high adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity

A graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheet and its nanocomposites have recently attracted increasing interest due to their massive potentials in applications ranging from fluorescence imaging to solar energy conversion. An economical mass-production method for the synthesis of g-C3N4 nanosheets is urgently needed for the application of these intriguing nanomaterials. Here we develop a facile and rapid route to synthesize g-C3N4 nanosheets by using chemical exfoliation followed by extraction and thermal treatment. The feature of this approach lies in its rapid speed with exfoliation time of only about one minute and facile operation free of long-time ultrasonication or stirring, filtration and repeated washing processes to remove the residual acid. Moreover, the method is high-yield and easily upscalable. Meanwhile, the exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheets exhibit high adsorption capability and photocatalytic activity due to the synergistic effects of large surface area, decreased recombination probability of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and enlarged band gap. This simple and rapid route enables the possibility of large-scale synthesis of g-C3N4 nanosheets with high yield, thus promoting their application in environmental purification and solar energy conversion.