AUTHOR=Yang Ye , Zhang Qian , Zhang Ruiyang , Ran Tao , Wan Wenchao , Zhou Ying 

TITLE=Compressible and Recyclable Monolithic g-C3N4/Melamine Sponge: A Facile Ultrasonic-Coating Approach and Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2018.00156

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2018.00156

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Powdery photocatalysts seriously restrict their practical application due to the difficult recycle and low photocatalytic activity. In this work, a monolithic g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/melamine sponge (g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/MS) was successfully fabricated by a cost-effective ultrasonic-coating route, which is easy to achieve the uniform dispersion and firm loading of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> on MS skeleton. The monolithic g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/MS entirely inherits the porous structure of MS and results in a larger specific surface area (SSA) than its powdery counterpart. Benefit from this monolithic structure, g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/MS gains more exposed active sites, enhanced visible-light absorption and separation of photogenerated carriers, thus achieving noticeable photocatalytic activity on nitric oxide (NO) removal and CO<sub>2</sub> reduction. Specifically, NO removal ratio is as high as 78.6% which is 4.5 times higher than that of the powdery g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>, and yield rate of CO and CH<sub>4</sub> attains 7.48 and 3.93 μmol g<sup>−1</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>. Importantly, the features of low-density, high porosity, good elasticity, and firmness, not only endow g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/MS with flexibility in various environmental applications, but also make it easy to recycle and stable for long-time application. Our work provides a feasible approach to fabricate novel monolithic photocatalysts with large-scale production and application.</p>