Visible light-driven oxidant-free dehydrogenation of alcohols in water using porous ultrathin g-C_(3)N_(4)nanosheets

摘要

Graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_(3)N_(4))is a fascinating photocatalyst for solar energy utilization in photo-catalysis.Nevertheless,it often suffers from moderate photo-catalytic activity due to its low specific surface area and fast recombination rate of photogenerated electrons upon photo-excitation.Herein,we overcome the bottlenecks by constructing a porous g-C_(3)N_(4)nanosheet(PCNS)through a simple thermal oxidation etching method.Benefited from its porous layer structure,the obtained PCNS exhibits large specific surface area,efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers,as well as high exposure of active sites.As a result,it is robust and universal in visible light-driven dehydrogenation of alcohols in water under oxidant-free condition.Almost quantitative yields(>99%)of various valuable carbonyl compounds were obtained over PCNS,while bulk g-C_(3)N_(4)was far less efficient.Moreover,the photo-catalyst was highly stable and could be facilely recovered from the aqueous system for efficient reuse.The easy preparation and excellent performance made PCNS a promising and competitive photocatalyst for the solar applications.