Efficient synthesis of polymeric g-C3N4 layered materials as novel efficient visible light driven photocatalysts

In order to develop efficient visible light driven photocatalysts for environmental applications, novel polymeric g-C3N4 layered materials with high surface areas are synthesized efficiently from an oxygen-containing precursor by directly treating urea in air between 450 and 600 °C, without the assistance of a template for the first time. The as-prepared g-C3N4 materials with strong visible light absorption have a band gap around 2.7 eV. The crystallinity and specific surface areas of g-C3N4 increases simultaneously when the heating temperatures increases. The g-C3N4 materials are demonstrated to exhibit much higher visible light photocatalytic activity than that of C-doped TiO2 and g-C3N4 prepared from…