Solution‐Processable Carbon Nitride Polymers for Photoelectrochemical Applications

Abstract

A general and straightforward synthesis of a series of solution‐processable carbon nitride polymers is described with excellent and tunable optical and electronic properties. The high dispersibility of carbon nitride polymers functionalized with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH‐CNs) in common solvents permits their facile processing into thin films utilizing routine methods such as spin‐coating and drop‐casting. Moreover, altering the PAH group within the CN scaffold enables great tunability of their optical and electronic properties as well as a range of functionalities. This is illustrated by a variety of photoelectrochemical properties, electropolymerization ability, and photoswitching properties for the different PAH‐CNs. The easy processing and tunable properties allow the construction of advanced electronic structures, such as a heterojunction, which significantly improves the photoelectrochemical performance. The versatility of this solution‐processable platform holds promise for the applicability of CNs in new photoelectronic devices.

Graphitic carbon nitride and polymers: a mutual combination for advanced properties

“…However, to form such g-C 3 N 4 films rather elaborate methods like chemical vapor deposition have to be utilized. 67,68 A solution based process would be simpler and suitable for many real life applications, and therefore, attention has been addressed to enhance dispersibility of g-C 3 N 4 powder. Several researchers focused on exfoliation of the bulk g-C 3 N 4 into thin sheets, in which the electrostatic repulsion between g-C 3 N 4 sheets can enable the formation of well-dispersed g-C 3 N 4 colloids.…”

“…154 Thus several studies investigated formation of g-C 3 N 4 film materials. 68 One effective strategy is to combine g-C 3 N 4 with polymers for improved dispersibility and processability. In such a way, thin films and coatings based on g-C 3 N 4 could be fabricated, which enables processing of g-C 3 N 4 and access to novel applications.…”

Electronic Structure Engineering of Carbon Nitride Materials by Using Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

“…Supramolecular assemblies comprising PAH‐substituted triazine monomers, that is, Ph‐T, Nap‐T, An‐T and Py‐T (Figure S1, Supporting Information) were synthesized by mixing these with cyanuric acid and melamine (CMR) in water . These starting monomers self‐organize into different structures by forming hydrogen bonds in water, yielding ordered and stable aggregates, denoted as CMPh, CMN, CMA and CMPy (Scheme ).…”

“…Synthesis of carbon nitrides : The C‐M 1− X ‐R X complexes were prepared by mixing in a 1:1− X : X molar ratio ( X =0, 0.01) cyanuric acid (C), melamine (M) and PAH‐substituted triazine precursors (R X ), that is, phenyl triazine (Ph‐T), naphthalene triazine (Nap‐T), anthracene triazine (An‐T) and pyrene triazine (Py‐T), in 40 mL DI water for 12 hours in an automatic shaker. The resulting powders were filtered and washed several times with water and then dried at 70 °C, before being calcined at 550 °C for 4 hours under nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 3 °C min −1 .…”

Periodic FTO IOs/CdS NRs/CdSe Clusters with Superior Light Scattering Ability for Improved Photoelectrochemical Performance

“…Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting enables the utilization of unlimited solar energy to produce clean and renewable hydrogen fuel, offering a promising route to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate the energy crisis . To achieve a high energy conversion efficiency, photoelectrodes should have a sufficient light absorption, quick charge separation, fast kinetics of surface reactions, and excellent photostability .…”