A facile synthesis of high-crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets with closed self-assembly strategy for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution

High crystallinity and few layers of carbon nitride (g-C3N4) can increase carrier migration rate and photocatalytic activity sites, which is beneficial to enhance the photocatalytic activity of carbon nitride. Herein, we synthesized high-crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets with a facile method of closed self-assembly strategy without adding any template and other auxiliary materials. XRD and HRTEM exhibited that high-crystalline g-C3N4 was synthesized, the average thickness and specific surface area of the high-crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets were 4.8 nm and 95.10 m2g−1, respectively. Due to the efficient separation of photogenerated carriers and low charge-transfer resistance, high-crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets demonstrated much better photocatalytic activity (8116 μmol h−1 g−1) than that of bulk g-C3N4, exhibiting 6-folds of enhancement on hydrogen evolution. Beneficial from its good photocatalytic activity and convenient fabrication method, it is anticipated that high-crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets will find more applications in the renewable energy fields.