Utilizing 2D Graphite Carbon Nitride for Industrial Applications - from Supercapacitors to Biosensors

摘要

2D materials are slowly overcoming the critical drawbacks of stability, low conductivity, reproducibility and cost. Therefore, with their intrinsic advantages of: ultra-large specific surface areas, well-defined layered architecture, tuneable redox activity and material hybridization, many 2D materials beyond graphene are being discovered. Few such 2-D materials, which have been reported are WS_2, MoS_2, h-BN, etc. Recently, 2D nano-sized graphite carbon nitride (g-C_3N_4) has been reported, with prediction that it can become an excellent candidate for miniaturized energy storage and optoelectronic devices. Graphite carbon nitride is a 2-D layered structure, where the tris-triazine unit are connected with planner amino groups in each layer, and weak van der Waal force acts between the layers. The quantum size effect are quite prominent along the inplane direction, which leads to interesting modulations in electrical and chemical properties. The nitrogen functional groups-rich frame-work is also expected to synergistically contribute in enhancing the electrochemical response of the material. Large synthesis of this material has remained a challenging task.