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Construction of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets via an improved solvent exfoliation strategy and interfacial mechanics insight from molecular dynamics simulations

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Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets have attracted great attention in the areas of photocatalysis, sensors, energy storages and membrane separations. A three-step exfoliation strategy was designed to use solvent exfoliating g-C3N4 nanosheets from bulk g-C3N4. In the first stage, bulk g-C3N4 was prepared and then exfoliated into g-C3N4 nanosheets by various solvents. In the second stage, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out and the energy barriers for the exfoliations were determined. Various interactions between solvent molecules and exfoliated nanosheet were analyzed. In the third stage, exfoliation was re-carried out according to the result from MD simulation to obtain optimal amount of exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheets. The experimental result matched with the simulation prediction very well. In combination with simulation and experiment, a successful way to obtain maximum amount of exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheet was set up. Then a 5.03 mg/mL g-C3N4 suspension was obtained. Meanwhile, a concept of kinetic energy increment was introduced for the first time to explain the exfoliating efficiency of g-C3N4 nanosheets, which greatly reduced the simulation time by 80% compared with the free energies in terms of the potential of mean force.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21878118, 21978109), Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (Grant Nos. 18KJA530003, 19KJA430011), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20171268), Jiangsu Province Qing Lan Project, Jiangsu Province Qing Lan Project for the Young Academic Leaders (2021), and the open project program of Jiangsu Key Lab for Chemistry of Low-Dimensional Materials (Grant No. JSKC17005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Engineering Laboratory for Environment Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian, 223300, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuyang Zou, Yijiang Zhao, Meisheng Li, Shouyong Zhou & Chenglung Chen

  2. Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan, ROC

    Chenglung Chen

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  1. Xiuyang Zou
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  2. Yijiang Zhao
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  3. Meisheng Li
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  4. Shouyong Zhou
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Correspondence to Yijiang Zhao or Meisheng Li.

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10934_2021_1047_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Supplementary file 1 (DOCX 936 KB) Details of the simulation, UV-vis absorption spectra of g-C3N4, the stability experiments of g-C3N4 nanosheets suspensions and exfoliation energy barrier under different external forces.

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Zou, X., Zhao, Y., Li, M. et al. Construction of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets via an improved solvent exfoliation strategy and interfacial mechanics insight from molecular dynamics simulations. J Porous Mater 28, 943–954 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-021-01047-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-021-01047-7

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