A simple and green route was developed for the first time to produce fluorescent graphitic carbon nitride (F-g-C₃N₄) by hydrothermal treatment of bulk g-C₃N₄. The produced F-g-C₃N₄ dots have blue emission and a high quantum yield, and were applied as a very effective fluorescent probe for label-free selective and sensitive detection of Cu(2+) and Fe(3+) ions; the limits of detection were as low as 0.5 nM and 1.0 nM, respectively. By using sodium hexametaphosphate (SHPP) as a masking agent of Fe(3+), Cu(2+) was exclusively detected in the presence of Fe(3+) ions. Cu(2+) and Fe(3+) ions in real water samples were also detected successfully. This exceptional fluorescent performance makes the probes based on F-g-C₃N₄ dots attractive for highly sensitive detection of Cu(2+) and Fe(3+) ions in real water.

Carbon-stabilized Fe/Fe3C nanoparticles with excellent adsorption capacity for dyes were fabricated through a facile in situ synthetic strategy.

Water-soluble magnetic-functionalized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) composites were synthesized successfully by in situ decorating spinel ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles on g-C3N4 sheets (CN-ZnFe) through a one-step solvothermal method. The magnetic properties of CN-ZnFe can be effectively controlled via tuning the coverage density and the size of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles. The results indicate that the CN-ZnFe exhibits excellent photocatalytic efficiency for methyl orange (MO) and fast separation from aqueous solution by magnet. Interestingly, the catalytic performance of the CN-ZnFe is strongly dependent on the loading of ZnFe2O4. The optimum activity of 160CN-ZnFe photocatalyst is almost 6.4 and 5.6 times higher than those of individual g-C3N4 and ZnFe2O4 toward MO degradation, respectively. By carefully investigating the influence factors, a possible mechanism is proposed and it is believed that the synergistic effect of g-C3N4 and ZnFe2O4, the smaller particle size, and the high solubility in water contribute to the effective electron-hole pairs separation and excellent photocatalytic efficiency. This work could provide new insights that g-C3N4 sheets function as good support to develop highly efficient g-C3N4-based magnetic photocatalysts in environmental pollution cleanup.

A novel efficient Ag@AgCl/g-C3N4 plasmonic photocatalyst was synthesized by a rational in situ ion exchange approach between exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheets with porous 2D morphology and AgNO3. The as-prepared Ag@AgCl-9/g-C3N4 plasmonic photocatalyst exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation for rhodamine B degradation with a rate constant of 0.1954 min(-1), which is ∼41.6 and ∼16.8 times higher than those of the g-C3N4 (∼0.0047 min(-1)) and Ag/AgCl (∼0.0116 min(-1)), respectively. The degradation of methylene blue, methyl orange, and colorless phenol further confirmed the broad spectrum photocatalytic degradation abilities of Ag@AgCl-9/g-C3N4. These results suggested that an integration of the synergetic effect of suitable size plasmonic Ag@AgCl and strong coupling effect between the Ag@AgCl nanoparticles and the exfoliated porous g-C3N4 nanosheets was superior for visible-light-responsive and fast separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, thus significantly improving the photocatalytic efficiency. This work may provide a novel concept for the rational design of stable and high performance g-C3N4-based plasmonic photocatalysts for unique photochemical reaction.

1D Ag@AgVO3 nanowire/graphene/protonated g-C3N4 nanosheet heterojunctions were fabricated and applied as an efficient photocatalyst for organic pollutant degradation.