Facile Fabrication of Large-Aspect-Ratio g-C3N4 Nanosheets for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Exfoliation of bulk graphitic carbon nitride (BCN) into two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets is one of the effective strategies to improve its photocatalytic performance. Compared with BCN, the 2D g-C3N4 nanosheets (CNNS) have larger specific surface areas and more reaction sites. With the etching assistance of anhydrous ethylenediamine, BCN can be successfully peeled off into 2D CNNS with a large lateral size of more than 15 μm which is much larger than that of other works. After appropriate etch by anhydrous ethylenediamine, the specific surface area of g-C3N4 expands from 4.7 to 31.1 m2 g–1 and the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate increases 7.4 times, from 4.8 to 35.3 μmol h–1. In contrast to other reported methods, the strategy to fabricate 2D CNNS in this work is convenient and it is the first time to report the fabrication of 2D CNNS with the assistance of alkaline reagent.