Acid-Exfoliated g-C3N4 Nanosheets Coated Silver Nanoparticles with Tunable Loading: An Efficient Catalyst for Visible Light Photocatalytic Reaction

Exfoliating bulk g-C3N4 into its nanosheets attracts great interests due to their amazing application in photocatalytic area, especially supported with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Herein, a facile acid-assisted method was firstly developed to exfoliate the bulk g-C3N4 into g-C3N4 nanosheets using concentrated hydrochloric acid. Ag NPs with average diameter of similar to 40 nm were coated into g-C3N4 nanosheets through electrostatic absorbance effect. By adjusting the feeding ratios between Ag NPs and g-C3N4, the Ag NPs/g-C3N4 composites with tunable Ag NPs can be achieved. Results illuminate that after coated with Ag NPs, photocatalytic performance of the Ag NPs/g-C3N4 composites is enhanced significantly under visible light irradiation compared with that of the pure g-C3N4. Furthermore, with an appropriate mass ratio, the Ag NPs/g-C3N4 (6: 5) composite exhibits the best photocatalytic activity and favorable stability due to the relatively higher Ag NPs loading.