Porous graphitic carbon nitride for solar photocatalytic applications

Photocatalysis is attracting increased attention in solving the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), a non-metal photocatalyst, has been regarded as an ideal photocatalyst to solve these problems because of its chemical stability and unique optical properties. However, traditional g-C3N4 exhibits moderate photocatalytic activity due to its low specific surface area and fast recombination rate of photogenerated electrons. Among the many modified g-C3N4 materials, porous carbon nitride (PCN) can solve the shortcomings of traditional g-C3N4 because of PCN's increased number of surface-active sites, specific surface area, light harvesting, diffusion and adsorption/activation. However, a frontier, comprehensive summary of the development of PCN is less reported. Thus, a review on recent developments in PCN research is urgently needed to further promote its advancement. In this review, the synthesis methods, structures and properties and photocatalytic applications of PCN photocatalysts are described in detail. The current challenges and future development of PCN/PCN-based photocatalysts are discussed. This review may present an up-to-date view of the PCN development to provide an in-depth understanding of PCN-based photocatalysts.