Microporous Carbon Nitride (C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>5.4</sub>) with Tetrazine based Molecular Structure for Efficient Adsorption of CO<sub>2</sub> and Water
CI Sathish, S. Premkumar, Xueze Chu, Xiaojiang Yu, Mark B. H. Breese, Mohammed Al‐Abri, Ala’a H. Al‐Muhtaseb, Ajay Karakoti, Jiabao Yi, Ajayan Vinu
Abstract
Abstract Mesoporous carbon nitrides with C 3 N 5 and C 3 N 6 stoichiometries created a new momentum in the field of organic metal‐free semiconductors owing to their unique band structures and high basicity. Here, we report on the preparation of a novel graphitic microporous carbon nitride with a tetrazine based chemical structure and the composition of C 3 N 5.4 using ultra‐stable Y zeolite as the template and aminoguanidine hydrochloride, a high nitrogen‐containing molecule, as the CN precursor. Spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations reveal that the prepared material exhibits a new molecular structure, which comprises two tetrazines and one triazine rings in the unit cell and is thermodynamically stable. The resultant carbon nitride shows an outstanding surface area of 130.4 m 2 g −1 and demonstrates excellent CO 2 adsorption per unit surface area of 47.54 μmol m −2 , which is due to the existence of abundant free NH 2 groups, basic sites and microporosity. The material also exhibits highly selective sensing over water molecules (151.1 mmol g −1 ) and aliphatic hydrocarbons due to its unique microporous structure with a high amount of hydrophilic nitrogen moieties and recognizing ability towards small molecules.