Preparation of carbon-chlorine co-doped mesoporous g-C3N4 by bubble template method and photocatalytic performance

A carbon-chlorine co-doped mesoporous g-C3N4(C-Cl-CN) photocatalyst with a high specific surface area was prepared from melamine, glucose and ammonium chloride and its performance for photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B(RhB) was investigated. The crystal structure, chemical composition and micro-morphology of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope(XPS), scanning electron microscope(SEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectra(UV-Vis DRS) and photoluminescence(PL). The results show that C-Cl-CN has a high specific surface area(108.7 m2/g) and the rate constant of RhB degradation is 0.02290 min-1, which is 9.4 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4, and has excellent catalytic stability. Glucose and ammonium chloride act as double-bubble templates and elemental dopants in the polymerization process, which enhance the specific surface area of the catalyst on the one hand and reduce the energy bandgap, on the other hand, significantly enhance the light absorption performance of the catalyst.