Synthesis of carbon nitride nanosheets with tunable size by hydrothermal method for tetracycline degradation

Tunable size graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets with the thickness of 10–20 nm were synthesized through hydrothermal method by employing melamine and cyanuric acid as precursors and followed calcination processes. The size of g-C3N4 nanosheets can be controlled from 100 to 300 nm to several micrometers by simply adjusting the ratio of melamine and cyanuric acid. The analysis shows that the obtained small-size g-C3N4 nanosheets exhibit a larger band gap and improved photogenerated electron-hole pairs separate efficiency compared with that of the large-size nanosheets. Due to synergistic effects of broader band gap and high separation efficiency, small-size g-C3N4 nanosheets show excellent performance for tetracycline degradation. This work provides some new insights for the rational design and synthesis of tunable size g-C3N4 nanosheets photocatalysts with high efficiency.