Polyethyleneimine-induced in-situ chemical epitaxial growth ultrathin 2D/2D graphene carbon nitride intralayer heterojunction with elevating photocatalytic activity: Performances and mechanism insight

Integrating 2D carbon nitride (CN) photocatalyst with 2D graphene into a lateral heterojunction can decrease energy loss within interlayer space, which is an intriguing strategy for tailoring photocatalyst for energy and environmental applications. Herein, a polyethyleneimine (PEI) induced in-situ chemical epitaxial growth strategy was adopted to tailor graphene-oxide CN (GO-CN) intralayer heterostructure photocatalyst, where PEI was served as chemical inducer and crosslinker to construct polymerization precursor, and a one-pot self-assembly followed in-situ thermal-polymerization and thermal-etching method was conducted. Series characterizations manifest the successful construction of ultrathin 2D-2D GO-CN intralayer heterostructure, which possesses ameliorated specific surface area, visible-light harvest and charge behaviors. Quench tests, ESR and LC-MS explored photodegradation active species, intermediate and route, while online FTIR real-time and in-situ monitor the variation of functional groups. In the end, DFT theoreticalanalysis further affirm the charge transfer between GO and CN, and unveil conceivable elevated mechanism.(c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.