Simple synthesis of ordered cubic mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride by chemical vapor deposition method using melamine

Ordered cubic mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was synthesized by a simple chemical vapor deposition method using three-dimensional cubic mesoporous silica KIT-6 as the template and melamine as the precursor. X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra analysis techniques were used to analyze the sample. It was observed that the synthesized ordered mesoporous g-C3N4 had a cubic I4(1)32 symmetry with a high surface area of 129.8 m(2)/g and uniform pore size of 3.5 nm. Because of these properties, the obtained ordered mesoporous g-C3N4 exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic activity for the reduction of CO2 with H2O when compared that of flake-like g-C3N4. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.