In situ preparation of graphitic carbon nitride bonded with cyano groups for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Cyano groups have been successfully introduced on the backbone edge of g-C 3 N 4 to fabricate nitrogen defects under mild conditions, which are derived from incomplete polymerization of g-C 3 N 4 after BaCO 3 utilization. Characterization results indicate that the interfacial interaction between BaCO 3 and carbon nitride is playing a significant role for introducing cyano groups into g-C 3 N 4 . Cyano groups working as electron capture centers are proved to change the band gap of carbon nitride , reducing the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs and promoting charge separation. As expected, the hydrogen evolution rate of nitrogen-defect-modified carbon nitride is improved to 71.57 μmol h −1 , which is 13.5 times that of pristine C 3 N 4 . Meanwhile, the degradation efficiency of methyl orange is promoted (5 times that of pristine C 3 N 4 ). This work is the first report on the fabrication of cyano-group-modified carbon nitride with BaCO 3 utilization, and opens a new door for further exploring environmental-friendly carbon nitrides on energy conversion.