Highly surface active niobium doped g-C3N4/g-C3N4 heterojunction interface towards superior photocatalytic and selective ammonia response

200 Nb-doped urea mixed melamine derived g-C3N4 (200Nb-UMCN) nanosheets were firstly synthesized from a mixture of urea, melamine, and niobium chloride at 550 degrees C for 3 h by pyrolysis. The crystalline phase, optical properties and morphological studies of series xNb-UMCN (x-100-300) materials were carried out by various characterization techniques, such as XRD, UV-Vis DRS, FTIR, FESEM, TEM, XPS, PL, BET, and photocurrent test. The results determined that Nb doping remarkably increased the photocatalytic and gas sensing life of ureamelamine derived g-C3N4, and the 200Nb-UMCN nanosheets reveal the highest photocatalytic and gas sensing performance with a 96% degradation rate of methylene blue (MB), 321 mu mole h(-1) hydrogen production through water decomposition, 76% of ammonia gas sensing compare with melamine derived g-C3N4(MCN). The 200Nb-UMCN half curled worm-like nanosheets reveal good structural stability under repeated application process. The effect of Nb and the half-curled worm-like structure led to various properties such as specific surface area, bandgap tailoring, embellished visible light-harvesting system, effective electron-hole separation, and tunable electronic configurations.

Automated summary

The study showed that Nb doping significantly improved the photocatalytic and gas sensing performance of urea-melamine derived g-C3N4, with 200Nb-UMCN nanosheets exhibiting the best performance. These nanosheets demonstrated high degradation rate, hydrogen production, and gas sensing capability. Additionally, their half-curled worm-like structure showed good structural stability during repeated applications.