Porous Graphitic Carbon Nitride Derived from Melamine–Ammonium Oxalate Stacking Sheets with Excellent Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Activity

A facile strategy to synthesize porous graphitic carbon nitride with stacking nanotubes by thermal condensation of melamine–ammonium oxalate stacking sheets is reported. The photocatalytic generation rate of hydrogen over the porous graphitic carbon nitride (99.7 μmol h −1 ) is nearly 9.5 times as that of pristine g-C 3 N 4 (10.5 μmol h −1 ). Such enhancement is attributed to the large specific surface area (91.1 m 2 g −1 ), improved visible-light absorption and efficient separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. The strategy of preparing the porous graphitic carbon nitride with modified melamine as a precursor opens a new gate for the regulation of the morphologies of g-C 3 N 4 to get higher photocatalytic activity. Graphical Curled up : Porous graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes were prepared by thermal condensation of melamine–ammonium oxalate (MAO) stacking sheets, which display high and stable activity for photocatalytic generation of hydrogen through water splitting.