Triazolotriazine-based carbon nitride framework for hydrogen peroxide photoproduction

Abstract Carbon nitride materials, typically consisting of heptazine or triazine, are perpetually captivating due to their exceptional optoelectronic properties and tunable band structure. Current research predominantly focuses on performance optimization of carbon nitride materials, with structural innovation receiving comparatively limited attention. Here, we design a nitrogen-rich heteroaromatic ring with cyan groups, and construct a carbon nitride framework (CNTTT-CTF) through its cyclotrimerization. CNTTT-CTF displays organic semiconductor characteristics that are similar to g-C3N4. However, the smallest repeating unit of CNTTT-CTF consists of tris([1,2,4]triazolo)[1,5-a:1’,5’-c:1”,5”-e][1,3,5]triazine and triazine rings, which distinguishes it from traditional g-C3N4. Furthermore, CNTTT-CTF can trigger various photocatalytic reactions such as photosynthetic H2O2, CO2 reduction, and nitro reduction. We find that the H2O2 photosynthetic performance is comparable to some modified g-C3N4-based catalysts.