Boosting the photo-induced charge transfer in melon by lengthening the melon chains through a facile regrowth approach

Melon-derived carbon nitride photocatalysts are a kind of star layered materials applied in solar energy conversion. With in-plane π orbitals of the heptazine subunits and their overlap along the melon chains being the most distinctive feature, the condition of melon chains is of great importance for the atomic and energy band structures of carbon nitride photocatalysts as well as their photo-activities. In principle, fragmentized melon chains in practical carbon nitride would lead to unfavorable structure disorder both in longitudinal and vertical directions, thus inhibiting the efficient transfer for photo-induced electrons and holes, respectively. Here, with a facile regrowth approach, that is to treat carbon nitride under the atmosphere containing C/N species, the melon chains in carbon nitride were experimentally lengthened, which was reflected by the regularly fraction variation of different nitrogen species derived from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The prolonged melon chains led to dramatically improved in-plane structure order and boosted transfer of photo-induced electrons and holes, which were confirmed by the spontaneous photo-deposition of oxidants and reductants. The combination of this regrowth approach with homogenously distributed nitrogen vacancies resulted in much enhanced visible-light-responsive photoactivities. Besides, control experiments using nitrogen-vacancy-free carbon nitride and different C/N-contained precursors showed the compatibility as well as the critical factors for the lengthening effects of the regrowth approach. We hope that the facile but efficient regrowth approach could be widely adopted in melon-derived carbon nitride photocatalysts used for various applications.