Facile enhancement of photocatalytic efficiency of g-C3N4 by Li-intercalation

Weibin Zhang, Zhijun Zhang, Soo Ho Choi, Woochul Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report significant enhancement of photocatalytic properties of g-C3N4 by a facile Lithium (Li)-intercalation method. The Li atoms are successfully and stably intercalated into the interlayer of g-C3N4 by n-butyl lithium (n-BuLi). The photocatalytic activity of the Li-intercalated g-C3N4 was observed to be significantly improved by 2.8 times in degradation of a dye (RhB), compared to that of pristine g-C3N4. The synergetic effects of the narrowed band gap, enhanced surface area, establishment of an interlayer pathway, and positive shift in the valence band position improve the photocatalytic activity of the Li-intercalated g-C3N4. Our discovery provides a promising route to manipulate the photocatalytic activity simply by increasing the Li concentration after the growth process of the g-C3N4, gaining a deeper understanding of the improvement in the photocatalytic efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)67-73
Number of pages7
JournalCatalysis Today
Volume321-322
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2019

Keywords

  • Density functional theory
  • g-CN
  • Li-intercalated
  • Photocatalyst

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