Bacteria-motivated pore structure regulation of graphitic carbon nitride for enhanced H2 evaluation under visible light irradiation

Porous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was successfully synthesized by a simple bacterial etching method. Compared with bulk g-C3N4, the specific surface area of the porous g-C3N4 increased from 14.48 to 75.22 m(2)/g, and its photocatalytic activity was significantly enhanced by a factor of 2.49 for photocatalytic H-2 evolution. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity is attributed to the enlarged specific surface area, remarkably narrowed band gap (2.28 eV) and fast electron transportation benefit from the porous structure. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.