title: An alkali treating strategy for the colloidization of graphitic carbon nitride and its excellent photocatalytic performance.
abstract: The colloid of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was of great importance for practical application. Herein we introduced an alkali treatment route to efficiently colloidize g-C3N4 under mild conditions by destroying the hydrogen bonds between linearly polymeric melon chains and hydrolyzing partial C−NH−C bonds linked two tri-s-triazine units. The obtained colloidal suspension was extremely stable due to its negative charges on surface, and the particle size of several hundred nanometers and the nanobelt-like morphology were revealed by electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering technologies. The structural, optical and functional group analysis demonstrated that the structure of CN heterocycles was preserved after the alkali treatment, and the produced colloidal g-C3N4 can be re-assembled by an electrostatic interaction. Moreover, contributing to the reduced electron-hole recombination, the photocatalytic performance of restacked carbon nitride colloids had more enhanced photocatalytic performance than bulk g-C3N4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Fuxing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chenjuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China; Qixin School, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Binhe
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China; Qixin School, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Peiran
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, China Jiliang University, 258 Xueyuan Street, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, 928 Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address: xpdong@zstu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
keywords: Alkali treatment; Colloid; Dispersion–flocculation; Photocatalysis; g-C(3)N(4)