Photoactive Graphitic Carbon Nitride-Based Gel Beads As Recyclable Photocatalysts
Qian Cao, Jesús Barrio, Markus Antonietti, Barış Kumru, Menny Shalom, Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt
Abstract
Photocatalysis for clean hydrogen production and waste water remediation holds a great promise on society. However, despite the significant progress in this field the recyclability of the photocatalytic materials together with good photoactivity remain a great challenge. photocatalytic materials for waste water cleaning and hydrogen production based on the utilization of photoactive macrogel beads as the photocatalyst. To do so, we design a graphitic carbon nitride based macrogels with tailored size, swelling behavior and photocatalytic properties. Detailed studies reveal that the catalytic activity is correlated with the polymer particle size, g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> content and swelling behavior, enabling the optimization of the photocatalytic processes. We believe that the presented strategy together with the good photocatalytic activity and excellent recyclability constitute open the path for a substantial progress in this field.