Universal strategy using environment-friendly inorganic compounds for the preparation of porous carbon nitride for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production and environmental remediation

As a classical metal-free semiconductor, CN has attracted much attention due to its unique electronic band structure in photocatalytic fields. By improving the specific surface area and inhibiting the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers of CN, the template strategy can effectively improve its photocatalytic activity. However, the cost and stability of the templating agent and the sustainability of the preparation process severely restrict its further application. Herein, we report a low-cost, environment-friendly and sustainable template strategy for preparing efficient CN photocatalysts based on extremely cheap inorganic magnesium-based compounds as templating agents. Under visible light conditions (λ≥ 420 nm), the optimal photocatalytic H₂evolution and RhB degradation activities of CN-m-nwere 5 and 16 times that of bulk CN, respectively. This work not only provides a low-cost and environment-friendly method for the preparation of highly efficient CN catalysts, but also opens up a universal and sustainable approach by using inorganic compounds as templates.