Ultrathin structure of oxygen doped carbon nitride for efficient CO₂photocatalytic reduction

Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels and valuable chemicals is a promising method for carbon neutralization and solving environmental problems. Through a simple thermal-oxidative exfoliation method, the O element was doped while exfoliated bulk g-C₃N₄into ultrathin structure g-C₃N₄. Benefitting from the ultrathin structure of g-C₃N₄, the larger surface area and shorter electrons migration distance effectively improve the CO₂reduction efficiency. In addition, density functional thory computation proves that O element doping introduces new impurity energy levels, which making electrons easier to be excited. The prepared photocatalyst reduction of CO₂to CO (116μmol g^-1h^-1) and CH₄(47μmol g^-1h^-1).