Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal o Environmental Chemical Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jece

Synthesis and modications o g-C3N4-based materials and their

applications in wastewater pollutants removal
Jiangna Xing a, Na Wang a, *, Xin Li a, Jingkang Wang a, b, Mukaidaisi Taiwaikuli a, Xin Huang a,
Ting Wang a, Lina Zhou a, Hongxun Hao a, b, c, **
a
National Engineering Research Center o Industrial Crystallization Technology, School o Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072,
People’s Republic o China
b
Collaborative Innovation Center o Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072, People’s Republic o China
c
School o Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, People’s Republic o China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Editor: Giovanni Palmisano Wastewater remediation and pollutants removal, such as organic pollutants and heavy metals, have become
increasingly important or the protection o environment. Numerous technologies, such as adsorption, membrane
Keywords: separation and photocatalysis, have been proposed to solve this problem. However, these methods also have
g-C3N4 some disadvantages, such as the inability to mineralize the pollutants during the adsorption process and the
Modication strategies
serious membrane ouling. Thereore, g-C3N4 as a photocatalyst has been widely used to remove pollutants rom
Water remediation
wastewater due to graphitic like structure, adjustable morphology, low cost, acile preparation and high chemical
Removal mechanisms
stability. However, the pristine g-C3N4 suers rom issues such as small specic surace area, low utilization o
visible light and serious photogenerated carrier recombination. Hence, various modication strategies, such as
doping, deects, morphology control, metal deposition and heterojunction construction, have been developed to
improve its photocatalytic activity. In this review, the synthesis and modication techniques o novel g-C3N4
materials were systematically introduced. Their application and related mechanisms in wastewater remediation
and pollutant removal were discussed. Their eciency, limitations and advantages were also compared and
discussed. Furthermore, the promising perspectives and the potential directions o g-C3N4-based materials in
environmental applications were put orward and discussed. In the uture, materials modications through su-
pramolecular sel-assembly method and S-scheme heterojunction structure still need to be urther explored. And
it is o great signicance or industrial applications to design new processes that are conducive to material re-
covery and simultaneous treatment o multiple pollutants.

1. Introduction [6] precipitation,[7] coagulation,[8] advanced oxidation processes

As the source o human lie, water plays a vital role in human lie.
With the continuous population growth and the rapid development o
industrialization, a large amount o domestic and industrial wastewater
is discharged into the environment. Various pollutants, such as phar-
maceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs),[1] organic dyes,[2]
heavy metals,[3] pesticides,[4] endocrine disruptors,[5] etc., not only
cause serious harm to the environment, but also aect the entire
ecosystem through the ood chain. To solve these environmental prob-
lems, a series o methods, such as adsorption,[3] membrane separation,
(AOPs),[9] have been developed to remove pollutants rom wastewater.
Compared with the adsorption method which can’t mineralize pollut-
ants, AOPs can degrade wastewater pollutants by generating highly
active ree radicals, which have the advantages o higher mineralization
rate and no secondary pollution.[10] It includes polyphase photo-
catalytic reactions, H2O2-based AOPs (UV/H2O2, Fenton reaction and
Fenton-like reaction, etc.), ozone-based AOPs (O3/UV, O3/H2O2, etc.),
catalytic wet air oxidation process, electrochemical oxidation, super-
critical water oxidation (SCWO), etc.[9–11] Among them, H2O2-based
AOPs require the addition o additional oxidants, such as H2O2 and

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author at: National Engineering Research Center o Industrial Crystallization Technology, School o Chemical Engineering and Technology,
Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, People’s Republic o China.
E-mail addresses: wangna224@tju.edu.cn (N. Wang), hongxunhao@tju.edu.cn (H. Hao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.108782
Received 5 August 2022; Received in revised orm 7 October 2022; Accepted 13 October 2022
Available online 17 October 2022
2213-3437/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Xing et al.
sodium persulate, which urther increase the cost, and the low regen-
eration eciency o Fe(II)/Fe2+ also limits the reaction eciency [12].
Harsh experimental conditions during catalytic wet air oxidation and
SCWO increase costs and remain a signicant challenge when operating
at ambient temperatures.[10,11] In addition, ozone-based AOPs have
problems such as poor utilization rate, high process cost and high energy
consumption, and may also produce some harmul by-products [13].
However, semiconductor photocatalysis technology driven by solar en-
ergy, which is inexhaustible clean energy, has been widely used in
recent years to remove pollutants rom wastewater due to its low cost
and environmental riendliness [1].
Up to now, a variety o semiconductor photocatalysts have been
developed, such as TiO2,[14] ZnO,[15] SnO2,[16] CdS,[17] MoS2,[18]
and g-C3N4.[19] Among them, UV light-responsive photocatalysts such
as TiO2 and ZnO have been widely studied due to their strong chemical
stability, non-toxicity and low cost. However, the wide band gap o TiO2
and ZnO limit their urther applications. To urther improve the utili-
zation o solar energy, researchers have developed a series o
visible-light-driven catalysts, among which the metal-ree g-C3N4 has
attracted great attentions as a visible-light-responsive organic polymeric
semiconductor photocatalyst. Since the rst successul application o
g-C3N4 in photocatalytic water splitting or hydrogen production in
2009 by Wang et al. [19], the g-C3N4-based materials have become one
o the popular materials in the eld o photocatalysis due to its suitable
optical band gap, non-toxicity, low cost and high chemical stability. And
it has also been widely used in the eld o wastewater treatment.
In 1996, Teter and Hemley proposed ve theoretical structures o
carbon nitride, namely α-C3N4, β-C3N4, g-C3N4, cubic C3N4 and the
quasi-cubic phase C3N4. And their relative stability, structure, and
physical properties were urther calculated based on the rst-principle,
and it was ound that g-C3N4 was the most stable one at normal tem-
perature and pressure.[20] Generally, g-C3N4 has graphene-like layered
planar structure, and the interlayer is connected by van der Waals
interaction and/or hydrogen bonding while the C and N atoms in the
plane are connected by covalent bonds to orm a triazine ring (C3N3) or
tri-s-triazine ring (C6N7) (Fig. 1) [21–23]. Moreover, the stacking o
interlayer van der Waals interactions makes g-C3N4 highly chemically
stable, resistant to acids and alkalis, and insoluble in most solvents [24].
Meanwhile, the large interlayer distance limits the transer o photo-
generated electrons between layers, so that they can preerentially move
reely on the plane. Additionally, g-C3N4-based materials exhibit
excellent thermodynamic stability, and the theoretical calculated energy
o g-C3N4 based on the tri-s-triazine ring structural unit is much lower,
about 30 kJ mol1.[21–23] And it starts to decompose above 600 ◦ C,
and completely decomposes at 750 ◦ C. Theoretical calculations show
Fig. 1. (a) Triazine and (b) tri-s-triazine (heptazine) structures o g-C3N4.
Reproduced with permission rom re. [21], Copyright © 2016, American Chemical Society.
2
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
that the C and N atoms in g-C3N4 are hybridized with sp2 to orm a
highly delocalized π-conjugated system, and the conduction band (CB)
and valence band (VB) are mainly composed o the Pz orbitals o C and
N, respectively, so that the g-C3N4 has a suitable optical bandgap (about
2.7 eV) and can absorb visible light less than 460 nm [19].
The g-C3N4 only contains C and N elements that are abundant on
earth, and its surace activity can be changed without signicantly
changing its composition and structure.[21] However, g-C3N4 is con-
structed by C and N atoms alternating with each other, which results in
its poor electrical conductivity poor. The photo-generated electrons in
the bulk phase need to consume a large amount o energy to migrate to
the surace, which reduces the reduction potential energy o the
photo-generated electrons. Moreover, the chemical reaction can occur
only when the photogenerated electrons migrate rom the bulk phase to
the catalyst surace. Thereore, or the pristine g-C3N4, only ew pho-
togenerated electrons are transerred to the surace, resulting in a low
quantum yield. Although g-C3N4 has many advantages and many po-
tential applications, the pristine g-C3N4 still exhibits poor photocatalytic
activity due to the problems o small specic surace area, ast recom-
bination o photogenerated carriers and low utilization o visible light.
[25] In order to solve the above problems and improve the photo-
catalytic eciency, many researchers have proposed dierent modi-
cation strategies, such as doping, deects, morphology control, metal
deposition and heterojunction construction, especially advanced
S-scheme heterojunction.
Based on the above background, this paper mainly reviews the latest
development o g-C3N4-based materials which are applied to treat the
pollutants in wastewater, as well as its working mechanism in the eld
o wastewater treatment. Meanwhile, the preparation and modication
methods o g-C3N4 are systematically introduced. Finally, the applica-
tion prospects and uture directions o g-C3N4-based materials in water
remediation are also proposed.
2. Synthesis and modication
As a polymer semiconductor containing only C and N, g-C3N4 does
not exist naturally in nature and needs to be synthesized experimentally.
At present, the precursors used to prepare g-C3N4 mainly include mel-
amine,[26] urea,[27] dicyandiamide,[28] cyanamide,[19] thiourea,
[29] etc. And the main synthesis methods are thermal polycondensation
method,[26] solvothermal method,[30] solid-phase synthesis method
[31] and electrochemical deposition method.[32] Among them, the
thermal polycondensation method is commonly and widely used
because o the advantages o cheap and easy-to-obtain raw materials,
simple and easy-to-control preparation process, and suitability or
J. Xing et al.
large-scale industrial production. However, the g-C3N4 catalyst products
synthesized by this method usually have small specic surace area and
serious recombination o photogenerated carriers, which restricts its
urther development. Thereore, the development o new methods or
g-C3N4-based materials that can eectively improve the visible light
absorption ability and redox ability and promote the ecient separation
o electrons and holes, has been the ocus o research in this eld.
2.1. Synthesis o g-C3N4
The common method or preparing g-C3N4 is to heat treatment o
nitrogen-rich precursors (such as melamine, urea, cyanamide, dicyan-
diamide, thiourea, etc.) (Fig. 2),[21] such as high-temperature calcina-
tion. Although the chemical reaction process is relatively complicated,
the high-temperature calcination has the advantages o low cost, mild
reaction conditions, and easy control. Moreover, the properties o the
obtained g-C3N4 are closely related to the types o precursors and re-
action parameters. Some researchers ound that, compared with the
calcination o melamine at 450–550 ℃ in nitrogen, calcining g-C3N4 at
600 ℃ and 650 ℃ not only enhances the visible light absorption, but
also narrows the band gap.[26] Furthermore, many researches have
suggested that the g-C3N4 synthesized by heat treatment with urea as the
precursor has an optimal calcination temperature (550 ℃).[27] At this
temperature, the specic surace area o the g-C3N4 is signicantly
increased, and its optical band gap is signicantly reduced.[27] And
compared with using urea as precursor, the band gap o g-C3N4 prepared
with thiourea as the precursor is smaller, and the catalytic perormance
is higher.[29] Additionally, a ew studies have indicated that the calci-
nation atmosphere may also lead to structural disorder and deects,
which can urther aect the structure and properties o g-C3N4.[21].
Solvothermal, solid-phase synthesis and electrochemical deposition
methods can also be used to prepare g-C3N4. The solvothermal method
has the characteristics o good raw material dispersibility and uniorm
reaction process, and the product can be controlled by changing the
solvent. Montigaud et al. attempted to use triethylamine as the solvent
to condense melamine and cyanuric chloride to prepare graphite-like g-
C3N4 as macroscopic sample under supercritical conditions
(P = 130 MPa, T = 250 ℃).[30] However, the crystallinity o the nal
product was low due to the partial condensation.[30] Subsequently,
they tried to use hydrazine as solvent, and successully obtained brown
black solid with structure similar to the theoretical g-C3N4 through py-
rolyzing melamine at high temperature and high pressure (P = 2.5 GPa,
T = 800 ℃) [30]. Zhang et al. synthesized g-C3N4 with high crystallinity
Fig. 2. Schematic illustration o the synthesis process o g-C3N4 by melamine, cyanamide, dicyanamide, urea, and thiourea.
Reproduced with permission rom re. [21], Copyright © 2016, American Chemical Society.
3
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
using melamine and cyanuric chloride as raw materials at
1–1.5 GPa/500–600 ◦ C [31]. However, the reaction pressure o the
solvothermal method is very high (> 10,000 times atmospheric pres-
sure) and the conditions are extremely harsh. On the contrary, the
electrochemical deposition method is more suitable or the industrial
production o g-C3N4 with good application prospects. It can be carried
out under normal pressure and low temperature with ecient and mild
reaction conditions, etc. Bai et al. successully synthesized hollow car-
bon nitride microspheres with particle size o 80–250 nm, which were
consisted o nanoparticles with particle size o 5–30 nm, by liquid-phase
electrodeposition technology [32].
2.2. Modifcation o g-C3N4
Although g-C3N4 has many advantages, it also has many disadvan-
tages such as small specic surace area, low utilization rate o visible
light and serious photo-generated carrier recombination, which limit its
practical application. Thereore, dierent modication methods have
been developed to improve its photocatalytic activity. The commonly
used modication strategies o g-C3N4 include doping,[33] deects,[34]
morphology control,[35,36] metal deposition,[37] and heterojunction
construction [38].
2.2.1. Doping Strategies
In the modication strategy o g-C3N4, doping is an eective method
to adjust the band gap o g-C3N4, which can eectively broaden the light
absorption range and speed up the eective separation o photo-
generated carriers. Doing strategies can be mainly classied into
element doping at the atomic level and copolymerization at the mo-
lecular level [39].
2.2.1.1. Element doping
As an eective strategy to adjust the band gap o g-C3N4, element
doping has been extensively studied by many researchers. Element
doping can adjust the band structure o g-C3N4 by regulating the lowest
unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest occupied mo-
lecular orbital (HOMO).[40,41] It can also aect its surace properties,
thereby enhancing its photocatalytic perormance [40,41]. Element
doping mainly includes metal doping, such as transition metals, rare
earth metals, alkali metals, etc., non-metal doping, such as P, B, S, O, C,
N, halogen etc. and co-doping.
J. Xing et al.
(1) Metal element doping
The introduction o metal impurities into g-C3N4 will generate
additional binding eects to orm metal-Nx active sites, which can
accelerate the charge transer and narrow the band gap to enhance the
light absorption ability and improve the adsorption capacity or the
reactants, thereby improving the photocatalytic activity [42]. g-C3N4
has six electron-rich N-atoms cavities, which can provide stable coor-
dination environment or transition metals.[43] Yu et al. perormed
atomic structure engineering modication by doping transition metals
(Fe, Co or Ni) into g-C3N4, which can induce the ormation o metal-N
bonds as the "electron transer bridges".[44] And the "electron transer
bridges" can act as new reactive sites to signicantly enhance the sep-
aration eciency o photogenerated charges, restorative ability and
light absorption range [44]. It was ound that the Co-doped g-C3N4 has
the highest photocatalytic activity. This is because that, when Co is
introduced into g-C3N4 to activate peroxymonosulate (PMS), the strong
coordination o N atoms can signicantly improve the stability o Co,
Fig. 3. (a) Schematic diagram o Co-NG activation o PMS; (b) BA degradation and (c) Co leaching in ve consecutive experiments o the Co-NG catalyst.
(a-c) Reproduced with permission rom re. [43], Copyright © 2020, Elsevier.
4
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
which can eectively improve the degradation o pollutants, and reduce
the leaching o Co during recycling (Fig. 3a-c) [43]. In addition, rare
earth metals are also considered as ideal dopants because the unoccu-
pied 4 s orbitals and the vacant 5 s orbitals can act as electron trapping
centers [45,46]. Wang et al. introduced Eu(III) species into g-C3N4 to
deorm the nanosheets into hollow lanterns, which could increase the
specic surace area and orm the impurity energy level [46]. Compared
with the pristine g-C3N4, the absorption edge o Eu-doped g-C3N4
showed a signicant red shit, resulting in narrower band gap and
shorter electron transport distance, which could urther improve the
degradation eciency o rhodamine B to 98% and increase the degra-
dation eciency by 5-olds [46].
Alkali metals are also commonly used to modiy g-C3N4 due to their
advantages o non-toxic and low-cost. Generally, alkali metal has strong
interaction with the C-N heterocyclic structure o g-C3N4, which can
narrow the band gap and change the electronic structure, so as to
improve the utilization o visible light and broaden the visible light
J. Xing et al.
response range [47]. Moreover, they are urther used or the separation
o highly polycondensed stacking materials due to their intercalation
properties [48]. Wu et al. ound that the peeling and delamination o
tube walls can be achieved by changing the g-C3N4 interlayer spacing
through potassium ion-regulated supramolecular sel-assembly and
thermal polymerization process [48]. DFT calculations showed that the
N atom in g-C3N4 exhibited anionic properties, which could enhance
ionic interactions between K-N (Fig. 4a, b) [48]. And the decrease o
work unction also indicated that less energy was required or electrons
to escape rom the bulk phase o the material to the surace, and the
binding orce was weaker (Fig. 4c, d), so that the electrons were more
easily separated and transerred to the photocatalyst surace.[48]
Furthermore, the K 2p orbital also played an important role in the CB o
the material, and the CB was staggered with the ermi level, which was
conducive to the separation o photogenerated carriers (Fig. 4e, ).[48]
Meanwhile, multi-metal atom doping could urther enhance the pho-
tocatalytic activity o g-C3N4 due to the synergistic eect between
metals. The addition o Co/V to g-C3N4 could induce bimetallic syner-
gistic regulation o electronic structure, promote the transer and sepa-
ration o photogenerated electron-hole pairs and enhance the
photocatalytic activity [49]. However, the introduction o oreign metal
elements is not always benecial to improve the photocatalytic activity.
The addition o alkali metals (Na, K, Rb, and Cs) into g-C3N4 fakes
destroyed the mesoporous properties o the fakes and changed the op-
tical properties and the electronic properties o the material (Fig. 5a, b)
[50]. This is because the photogenerated electrons may be captured by
alkali metal ions, which inhibits the transer o charges to the reaction
site (Fig. 5c, d) and aects the ormation o active species (Fig. 5e, )
[50].
(2) Non-metal element doping
Due to the problems o metal ion leaching in metal doping, re-
searchers have also developed the non-mental doping strategies. The
most prominent eature o non-metal doped g-C3N4 is that the metal-ree
nature o g-C3N4 is maintained when improving the photocatalytic ac-
tivity. The introduction o P atoms into the g-C3N4 network can reduce
the energy band gap, improve the light absorption perormance and
Fig. 4. The ELF o CN (a) and KCN (b); the scale o ELF between 0 and 1, corresponding color card range goes rom blue to red; the work unction o CN (c) and KCN
(d); the partial density o states (PDOS) o CN (e) and KCN (d).
(a-) Reproduced with permission rom re. [48], Copyright © 2021, Elsevier.
5
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
suppress the separation o photogenerated carriers.[51,52] Commonly
used phosphorus sources are phosphoric acid, phosphate, etc. The
introduction o B can not only reduce the band gap but also increase the
specic surace area o the catalyst.[53] Generally, in the preparation
process o B-doped g-C3N4, H3BO3 and BH3NH3 are oten used as boron
sources. In addition, since the decomposition temperature o H3BO3 and
the volatilization temperature o H2O are almost the same, the use o
boric acid is conducive to the ormation o porous materials.[40] Yellow
sponge-like B-g-C3N4 can be obtained by one-pot thermal poly-
condensation o dicyandiamide, NH4Cl and BH3NH3.[53] The S-doped
g-C3N4 is mainly realized by replacing the N atoms with S atoms. And
the introduction o S can increase the specic surace area, and reduce
the band energy, enhance the light absorption ability and promote the
separation o photogenerated carriers with the interaction between the
2p state o S and the 2p state o N.[40] Usually, various sulur sources
such as thiourea, H2S, and thiocyanate can be used or S doping. Wang
et al. ound by DFT calculation that the photocatalytic perormance o
S-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets was signicantly improved.[54] Compared
with the pristine g-C3N4, the introduction o S atoms made the band gap
become smaller (Fig. 6a, b) and the ermi level transer to the bottom o
the CB (Fig. 6c, d), which indicated that it might have a stronger ability
to reduce electrons.[54] Moreover, except or the N atoms surrounding
the S atoms, HOMO is mainly distributed on other N atoms, while LUMO
is mainly distributed on S atoms (Fig. 6e), indicating that S atoms
participate in the composition o CB and make the orbital distribution
change obviously, and e-/h+ separate signicantly.[54] Oxygen-doped
one-dimensional porous g-C3N4 nanorods can be obtained by direct
calcination o melamine nanobers which were precipitated in mel-
amine aqueous solution.[55] Since the doping o oxygen atoms into
g-C3N4 breaks the symmetry o the pristine g-C3N4, the separation e-
ciency o photogenerated electron-hole pairs is improved and the bulk
structure stacking problem is also overcome.[55] In successul cases,
halogen atoms (F, Cl, Br or I) are also commonly used to embed g-C3N4.
[56] For the halogen-doped g-C3N4 monolayer, it is most stable when
halogen atoms occupied the interstitial space surrounded by three
tri-s-triazine units.[56] And the introduction o halogen atoms changes
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Fig. 5. (a) DRS plots or GCN and MGCN10 (M = Na, K, Rb and Cs) sheets; (b) band diagram; (c, d) proposed mechanism or the degradation o AR 94 over GCN and
MGCN photocatalysts; (e, ) pseudo rst order kinetics tting.
(a-) Reproduced with permission rom re. [50], Copyright © 2021, Elsevier.

Fig. 6. Band structure o g-C3N4 (a) and S-doped g-C3N4 (b); PDOS o g-C3N4 (c) and S-doped g-C3N4 (d); (e) LUMOs and HOMOs o g-C3N4 and S-doped g-C3N4.
(a-e) Reproduced with permission rom re. [54], Copyright © 2018, American Chemical Society.

the density o states and redistributes LUMO and HOMO (Fig. 7a-d).[56]
Due to the large electronegativity o the F atom, it tends to occupy the
VB and LUMO, while Cl, Br and I participate in the CB and LUMO, which
eventually can narrow the band gap (Fig. 7e-h), enhance visible light
absorption capacity and improve the photocatalytic eciency o the
material.[56].
(3) Self-doping strategies
Since the introduced oreign element may become into the photo-
generated carriers’ recombination centers and reduce the photocatalytic
eciency, many researchers have pioneered the sel-doping strategy o
C and N atoms. Mohamad et al. prepared biomimetic carbon-doped
graphitic carbon nitride with mesoporous microstructure by hydro-
thermal method using urea as precursor and kapok ber as biological
template and carbon source, respectively.[57] And the mesoporous
microtubule structure and in-situ C doping signicantly enhanced the
light-harvesting ability in the near-inrared band.[57] The experimental
study ound that, or C-doped g-C3N4, the color o the product gradually
deepened with the increase o carbon content (Fig. 8a).[58] The
mechanism o C sel-doped g-C3N4 with high light absorption ability and
eective charge separation lies in that the C atom can enter the g-C3N4
network by substituting the bridged N atoms or replace the N atoms at
the end, then orm large delocalized π bonds between adjacent heptazine
rings, which can urther overcome the problems o poor visible light
response and serious photo-generated carrier recombination.[58–60]
Using chitosan as carbon source, melamine and chitosan are dissolved in
water or supramolecular sel-assembly or direct mixing, then the C
sel-doped g-C3N4 is obtained by thermal polycondensation treatment
(Fig. 8b).[58,59] Additionally, glucose is also commonly used as carbon
source or the preparation o C sel-doped g-C3N4.[60] Some researchers
have prepared C sel-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes by hy-
drothermal treatment o melamine and glucose, which resulted in the
redshit o the absorption edge, narrowed the orbidden band width and

6
J. Xing et al.
Fig. 7. Calculated HOMO o (a-1) F-, (b-1) Cl-, (c-1) Br- and (d-1) I- doped g-C3N4. Calculated LUMO o (a-2) F-, (b-2) Cl-, (c-2) Br- and (d-2) I- doped g-C3N4. The
isovalue is set as 0.05 electron/Å3; (e-h) calculated band structure and corresponding DOS o halogen interstitial-doped monolayer o g-C3N4.
(a-1-d-1, a-2-d-2, e-h) Reproduced with permission rom re. [56], Copyright © 2017, Elsevier.
suppressed the recombination o photogenerated carriers (Fig. 8c, ).
[61] The introduction o N atoms will make the π-conjugated system o
the copolymer expand and delocalize, enhance the light-harvesting
ability and suppress carrier recombination.[62] Meanwhile, the
doping o N atoms can urther cause the redistribution o charges around
the doping point.[63] The substitution o N generally introduces itsel
into the inter-band state, which will signicantly shorten the transer
path o photogenerated electrons and is benecial to the separation o
electron-hole pairs.[63] Both experiments and theoretical calculations
showed that the band gap o N sel-doped g-C3N4 was reduced rom the
original 2.51–1.82 eV.[63].
(4) Polyatomic Doping
In recent years, polyatomic doping [64–66] o g-C3N4, by intro-
ducing dierent atoms and then introducing a simple donor-acceptor
co-doping, has also attracted extensive attentions. Compared with
single-element doping, the co-doping can urther reduce the band gap,
suppress photogenerated carriers recombination, and synergistically
expand the visible light response range [40]. Hu et al. obtained a highly
visible-active and eective metal-ree photocatalyst with the co-doped S
and P in g-C3N4 by thermal condensation.[64] In the heptazine ring unit,
P replaced C to orm a new covalent bond with N, while S was located at
the interstitial sites with relatively weak bonding with N, which was
prominently able to enhance the charge transer through the
N-S-N-C-N-P pathway to cross the heptazine ring or the photocatalytic
reaction [64]. Fang et al. synthesized (Na, O)-g-C3N4 with tremendously
improved photocatalytic hydrogen production activity by co-doped Na
and O in g-C3N4 using solvothermal method [66]. And the apparent
quantum yield was as high as 22.3% at 420 nm, under visible light [66].
2.2.1.2. Copolymerization regulation strategies
It is well known that the photocatalytic activity o pristine g-C3N4
mainly comes rom the π-conjugated structure [21]. Copolymerization
regulation strategy is based on the π-conjugated structure o g-C3N4.
Through copolymerization with another structure-matching molecule
(aromatic or organic small molecule), the electron delocalization o the
π-conjugated structure can be broadened [21,67]. The light absorption
and the separation eciency o photogenerated electron-hole pairs can
7
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
also be improved [21,67].
Inspired by the Schi base chemistry, Wang et al. used copolymeri-
zation to extend the π-conjugated structure o g-C3N4.[68–72] They used
melamine, dicyandiamide, cyanamide and urea as precursors to copo-
lymerize with a series o polymerized monomers, such as barbituric acid
(BA), 2-aminomaleonitrile (ABN), 2-aminothiophene-3-carbonnitrile
(ATCN), 2,6-triaminopyridine, etc [68–72]. The extended π-conju-
gated system also promoted the red-shit o light absorption and
improved the charge separation eciency, by introducing the aromatic
motis ATCN into the nanoshells o carbon nitride hollow nanospheres
[68]. With the development o g-C3N4 modication strategies, a growing
number o organic comonomers were used to copolymerize with g-C3N4
to modulate the π-conjugated system o g-C3N4, such as malondiamide
(MLDD),[73] thiophene,[74] ormamide,[75] etc. Li et al. introduced
MLDD and urea into the melon networks through a special polymeri-
zation reaction (Fig. 9a) [73]. It shows that the introduction o bridged C
replaces the original bridged N, a highly electronegative sp3 hybrid,
which can enhance the conjugation o the system and improve the en-
ergy band structure (Fig. 9b) [73]. In addition, the bridged C generated
more structure edge deects, endowing the material with abundant pore
structure and huge surace area (Fig. 9c, ) [73]. It can be seen that
molecular doping can eectively control the physical and chemical
properties o g-C3N4, such as specic surace area, band gap structure
and electronic structure.
2.2.2. Defects regulation strategies
It was ound that intrinsic deects are eective in promoting the
transer and separation o charges in the plane or between layers.[74] It
can also broad the photoresponse range and provide more reactive sites.
[74] Generally, the introduction o intrinsic deects will aect the
electronic structure o g-C3N4, change the positions o CB and VB, aect
the size o the band gap and regulate the redox ability and visible light
absorption ability o photogenerated carriers. In addition, the deects
will act as electron or hole traps to optimize the conjugated system o
g-C3N4, and promote charge redistribution and the participation o
electrons in photocatalytic reactions.[74] Vacancy deects (such as N
vacancies,[75–78] C vacancies,[79,80] cyano deects,[78] etc.), are the
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Fig. 8. (a) Photographs o g-C3N4 and CCNx; (b) scheme illustration o carbon bridged g-C3N4. (c) UV–vis DRS spectra, (d) XPS valence band spectra, (e) band
structure alignments o CNT and C-CNT-0.01, and () PL spectra o CNT and C-CNT-x (x = 0.005, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03).
(a, b) Reproduced with permission rom re. [58]. Copyright © 2018, Elsevier. (c-) Reproduced with permission rom re. [61]. Copyright © 2019, Elsevier.

main regulation means. And the vacancy deects will be mainly dis-
cussed as a result o the elaboration o C or N sel-doping in the element
doping section.
The introduction o C deects in g-C3N4 could weaken the interlayer
periodic stacking and the internal conjugation system o g-C3N4, adjust
the energy change o molecular structure and signicantly improve the
photocatalytic perormance o g-C3N4.[79] Liao et al. successully
introduced N deects into the g-C3N4 ramework by heating g-C3N4
powder in hydrogen atmosphere to make the N atoms react with
hydrogen and be partially removed. The N deects were located at N2 C,
and can be regulated by the hydrogen treatment temperature.[75]
Compared with the pristine g-C3N4, the band gap o the obtained
product was narrower and both the photo-generated carrier separation
ability and the active oxygen generation ability were improved. More-
over, atomic layered g-C3N4 containing N vacancies and cyano deects,
synthesized by high temperature treatment and thermal exoliation, has
excellent absorption wavelength with 650 nm.[78] These vacancies
and/or deects can not only suppress the quantum size eect o g-C3N4,
but also help to orm more reactivity sites and shorten the photo-
generated carrier transer distance.[78] However, excessive deects may
increase the risk o reduced photocatalytic activity. Thereore, how to
balance various actors and optimize the overall photocatalytic peror-
mance is worth urther exploration.[74].
2.2.3. Morphological regulation strategies
Generally, photocatalytic reactions occur on the surace o semi-
conductor catalysts, and the microscopic morphology and size are
closely related to the specic surace area and the exposed reactive sites
o the material, which can aect its photocatalytic perormance. The
specic surace area o bulk g-C3N4 prepared by thermal poly-
condensation method is about 10 m2 g1, which is not sucient or
providing catalytic reaction active sites. The morphological regulation
o g-C3N4 is an eective means to improve the specic surace area. It is
also a promising method to urther improve the photocatalytic activity
o g-C3N4. The morphologies o g-C3N4 mainly include 0D (quantum

8
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Fig. 9. (a) Illustration or abrication o GCN and CBCN samples; (b) scheme illustration o carbon-bridging modied g-C3N4 nanosheet; SEM images o (c) GCN and
(d) CBCN-30, TEM images o (e) GCN and () CBCN-30, SEAD images o CBCN-30 (inset o ).
(a-) Reproduced with permission rom re. [73], Copyright © 2020, Elsevier.

9
J. Xing et al.
dots, QDs), 1D (nanorods, nanobers, nanotubes), 2D two-dimensional
(nanosheets) and 3D (porous materials). And g-C3N4 with dierent
morphologies can be transormed into each other.
2.2.3.1. 0D g-C3N4
0D g-C3N4, also known as g-C3N4 QDs, is a new type o material with
a size o less than 10 nm. And the smaller size can generate strong
quantum connement and edge eects, making it possess controllable
optical, electrical and thermal properties, so that the solar spectrum can
be ully utilized and its applications in the eld o photocatalysis can be
promoted [20,81,82]. In addition, the electrons and holes o g-C3N4 QDs
can’t move reely, and their CB and VB are opposite to those o bulk
g-C3N4, leading to obvious dierences in the photophysical properties
and photogenerated carrier separation o g-C3N4 QDs.[35].
The current synthesis methods o g-C3N4 QDs mainly include top-
down and bottom-up routes.[82] Although bulk g-C3N4 can gradually
transorm into 2D, 1D materials and even g-C3N4 QDs by top-down
methods such as ultrasound, hydrolysis, and hydrothermal treatment,
the products obtained by ultrasound are usually mixtures or composites
g-C3N4 QDs and other morphologies.[83,84] Zhou et al. synthesized
g-C3N4 QDs with C-N conjugated structure, strong electron connement
eect and uniorm morphology by hydrolysis o bulk g-C3N4 in acidic
aqueous solution.[84] And the g-C3N4 QDs exhibited intrinsic UV
emission at 367 nm and has a photoluminescence quantum yield o up to
46%.[84] Zhan et al. prepared g-C3N4 QDs with uniorm scale as well as
good dispersion.[85] But the process is complicated and the yield is low,
and the steps o heat treatment, dialysis, centriugation, and
reeze-drying are generally required.[85] The bottom-up route usually
uses carbon and nitrogen sources as precursors to synthesize g-C3N4 QDs
by solid-phase reaction, microwave-assisted methods, etc. The
solid-phase method can tune the constituent elements, size, deects, and
surace unctional groups o g-C3N4 QDs by changing the ratio o raw
materials, and has the advantages o simple operation, solvent-ree, and
high cost-eectiveness.[82] Heating urea and sodium citrate at 180 ℃
or 1 h in autoclave, and the g-C3N4 QDs can be obtained with a quan-
tum yield o 42%.[86] The diameter distribution range o g-C3N4 QDs is
in the range o 2.6–5.5 nm, with average size o 4.3 nm, and the
Fig. 10. (a) The ormation process o the g-C3N4 nanotubes. (b, c) SEM images o TCN (NH3) and (d) TEM images o TCN (NH3). (e) proposed ormation process o P-
g-C3N4.
(a) Reproduced with permission rom re. [89], Copyright © 2018, Elsevier. (b-d) Reproduced with permission rom re. [90], Copyright © 2019, Elsevier. (e)
Reproduced with permission rom re. [91], Copyright © 2018, American Chemical Society.
10
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
topographic height o 1.5–2.5 nm.[86] Moreover, the tunable emission
o g-C3N4 QDs can be achieved by adjusting the ratio o reactants.[86]
Microwave processing is also commonly used to synthesize g-C3N4 QDs.
Li et al. prepared oxygen and sulur co-doped green luminescent g-C3N4
QDs by microwave treatment o thiourea and citric acid.[87] Tang et al.
obtained g-C3N4 QDs with a fuorescence quantum yield up to 35% by
microwave-assisted preparation using EDTA and guanidine hydrochlo-
ride as precursors, and realized the sensitive detection o ree chlorine in
water by injecting them into NaClO.[88].
2.2.3.2. 1D g-C3N4
Beneting rom the one-dimensional structure that enables electrons
to move reely in the axial direction without lateral migration, 1D g-
C3N4 can signicantly improve the photo-generated carrier separation
eciency in photocatalytic reactions. And the tunability o the physi-
cochemical properties o 1D g-C3N4 can be achieved by changing the
precursor types, experimental parameters and other actors. At present,
1D g-C3N4 photocatalysts include nanobers, nanowires, nanorods, and
nanotubes.
Mo et al. obtained g-C3N4 nanotubes with abundant specic surace
area by in-suit hydrolysis to orm rod-like supramolecular intermediates
and urther calcination o melamine (Fig. 10a).[89] And light-harvesting
ability could be enhanced through multiple refections o incident light.
[89] Rapid and long-distance electron transer could be also achieved
and separation eciency o photogenerated carriers could be improved.
[89] Subsequently, they prepared porous nitrogen-rich g-C3N4 nano-
tubes by supramolecular sel-assembly o melamine and hydroxylamine
hydrochloride (Fig. 10b-e).[90] P-doped g-C3N4 nanotubes can also be
obtained by copolymerizing melamine with sodium hypophosphite
monohydrate (NaH2PO2⋅H2O) at high temperature, and the phosphine
gas generated by the thermal decomposition o NaH2PO2⋅H2O can
urther induce the transormation o 2D nanosheets to 1D nanosheets
(Fig. 10).[91] However, photogenerated carrier separation is inhibited
due to high polymer packing in the tubular structure. Fortunately, by
introducing potassium ions in the hydrothermal reaction o melamine,
Wu et al. perectly peeled o the tube wall while ensuring the integrity
o the tube structure, eectively promoting the separation o
J. Xing et al.
photogenerated charges.[48] What is more, Wang et al. prepared porous
nanobrous Ag/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with higher specic surace
area (18.5 m2 g1) by using a simple supramolecular hydrogel method
as a sel-template, to improve visible light absorption and the photo-
generated carrier separation eciency.[92] Besides nanobers, nano-
tubes, nanorod and nanowire structures have also been used to enhance
the photocatalytic activity o g-C3N4. 1D porous g-C3N4 nanorods with
good 2,4-dinitrophenol degradation activity can be prepared by directly
calcining the melamine nanobers precipitated rom melamine aqueous
solution.[55] Zhang et al. reported a g-C3N4 nanowire that signicantly
promoted the separation o photogenerated carriers and eectively
broadened the light absorption range due to the structure rearrangement
and distortion.[93] The g-C3N4 nanowire was ormed by iodine doping
and oxidation o g-C3N4 nanosheets.[93].
2.2.3.3. 2D g-C3N4
2D g-C3N4 generally reers to g-C3N4 nanosheets whose electrons are
mainly conned in the thickness direction.[35] At present, the prepa-
ration methods o g-C3N4 nanosheets mainly include thermal oxidation
exoliation method,[94–96] liquid exoliation method[97,98] and
Fig. 11. (a-d) Schematic illustration o the thermal exoliation method to orm O-g-C3N4 nanosheet.
(a-d)Reproduced with permission rom re. [94], Copyright © 2016, Elsevier.
11
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
supramolecular sel-assembly method.[99–102].
By calcining the melamine three times in air, She et al. obtained high
crystalline oxygen-containing monolayer carbon nitride with increased
gap and ecient separation o electron-hole pairs (Fig. 11a-d), with
enhanced photocatalytic activity.[94] Meanwhile, Li et al. also obtained
conventional 2D nanosheets by thermally treating bulk g-C3N4 in air or
a long time.[95] And with the prolongation o calcination time, some
tri-s-triazine units composed o C-N were urther thermally oxidized to
orm oam-like g-C3N4 ultrathin nanosheets with macroscopic
morphology and non-uniorm pore size.[95] The experimental results
and the original density unctional theory (ODFT) calculation shows that
the specic surace area o ultrathin nanosheets is 26 times higher than
that o bulk, and the porous structure can also provide more catalytically
active sites, which are conducive to the rapid cross-plane diusion o
photogenerated carriers.[95] Furthermore, Xu et al. eectively exoli-
ated the bulk g-C3N4 into single atomic-layer nanosheet with a thickness
o only 0.4 nm, with the aid o the ultrasound and a high concentrated
suluric acid (98 wt%).[98] However, although g-C3N4 nanosheets can
be obtained by thermal oxidation and liquid exoliation, the thermal
oxidation method has disadvantages o low yield and high ultrasonic
energy consumption, while the liquid exoliation process may use
J. Xing et al.
organic solvents, strong acids and strong bases. Moreover, the exolia-
tion process can’t simultaneously achieve precise control o nanosheet
thickness, specic surace area, deects, and energy band structure.
Thereore, there is still a need to explore and develop ecient,
controllable and environmentally riendly preparation methods or ul-
trathin nanosheets.
In addition to the exoliation o bulk g-C3N4 into g-C3N4 nanosheets,
g-C3N4 nanosheets grown by anisotropy and sel-assembly o organic
molecules have also been extensively studied in recent years. Generally,
melting process is involved during the direct calcination o nitrogen-
containing precursors into g-C3N4, and the obtained g-C3N4 mostly
exhibit dense block-like structure morphology. The melting point o
supramolecular precursors ormed by melamine and cyanuric acid is
higher than the temperature at which g-C3N4 is ormed, so that the
morphology o g-C3N4 can be adjusted to a certain extent by regulating
the morphology o supramolecular precursors.[99,100] Wang et al.
prepared petal-like Cl-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets by adding NH4Cl to the
system o melamine and cyanuric acid.[99] The synergistic eect o
supramolecular sel-assembly and Cl doping enables the specic surace
area o g-C3N4 nanosheets to be as high as 98.330 m2 g1, and the
removal eect o rhodamine B is 5.8 times higher than that o bulk
g-C3N4.[99] Hu et al. synthesized g-C3N4 nanosheets by sel-assembly o
melamine and L-cysteine.[100] And they ound that the g-C3N4 nano-
sheets olded to orm a porous structure with more reactive sites ater
introducing enough L-cysteine.[100] However excessive L-cysteine
would cause unnecessary deects and structural distortions, increase the
recombination rate o photogenerated carriers and be unavorable or
the photocatalytic reaction.[100] Compared with bulk g-C3N4, g-C3N4
nanosheets prepared based on supramolecular sel-assembly generally
have the characteristics o larger specic surace area, abundant reactive
sites, and excellent separation ability o photogenerated carriers, and
have great application potential in the eld o photocatalysis. However,
the substances that can participate in supramolecular sel-assembly are
still limited. Hence, it is necessary to expand the sel-assembly raw
materials and design materials with higher photocatalytic perormance.
2.2.3.4. 3D g-C3N4
The existence o van der Waals orces between 2D g-C3N4 ultrathin
nanosheets will inevitably lead to interlayer agglomeration, and aect
its catalytic perormance. Porous 3D g-C3N4 with a larger specic sur-
ace area could prevent interlayer accumulation and provide an electron
transer paths. It can also maximize the use o multiple refected incident
light in an open rame. 3D g-C3N4 is usually composed o one or more
0D, 1D, 2D g-C3N4. Compared with other sizes o g-C3N4, 3D g-C3N4
generally exhibits a 3D ordered macroporous structure, which can
provide more reactive sites. Moreover, steric hindrance can eectively
prevent the agglomeration o catalysts and improve light absorption
eciency by delaying and storing incident light o specic wavelengths.
[103] And beneting rom its excellent catalytic perormance, it has
become one o the research hotspots in the eld o nanomaterials.
Luo et al. synthesized the 3D network g-C3N4 assembled by nanorods
by chemical tailoring, sel-assembly and repolymerization o bulk g-
C3N4.[104] The obtained product showed larger specic surace area
and lower photo-generated electron-hole pair recombination than bulk
g-C3N4 and exhibited good photocatalytic activity in phenol degrada-
tion.[104] However, the preparation process is complex and large
amount o strong acids and bases need to be used.[104] Some re-
searchers ound that the salt template method is saer and more ecient
without using organic solvents and harmul substances to remove the
template. Chen et al. prepared 3D porous g-C3N4 with cyano groups
using thiourea by a acile two-step process that combines NaCl-assisted
reeze-drying with calcination.[105] And NaCl not only acted as a
template or the 3D open-pore structure, but also promoted the
decomposition o g-C3N4. Meanwhile, a moderate amount o cyano
group could act as an electron capture center.[105] Aterwards, Qian
12
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
et al. introduced a acile NaCl-assisted ball-milling strategy to abricate a
3D porous g-C3N4 network (Fig. 12a), which can be used as biunctional
catalyst or both photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and electrocatalytic
oxygen evolution reaction.[106] In the ormation process, the 3D NaCl
particles acted as movable templates to promote the ormation o 3D
porous g-C3N4 structures, which can prevent the aggregation o g-C3N4
during calcination.[106].
Generally, 3D layered porous g-C3N4 can be abricated by using
ethanol or water as solvent and melamine and cyanuric acid as pre-
cursors.[107] And cyanuric acid can also be used as a polymerization
inhibitor, to promote the ormation o the 3D g-C3N4 structure.[107]
Chen et al. obtained porous 3D g-C3N4 assembled by ultrathin nano-
sheets with high crystallinity ater reeze-drying and high-temperature
polycondensation o equal amounts o melamine and cyanuric acid
using water as solvent (Fig. 12b-e).[108] The 3D porous interconnected
open-ramework suppressed the agglomeration o nanosheets and pro-
vided a pathway or photo-generated electron transport with stable.
[108].
2.2.4. Metal deposition
Dierent rom the doping o metal elements into the g-C3N4 network,
metal deposition involves depositing the metal on the surace o the
semiconductor. Because the Fermi level o the semiconductor is higher
than that o the metal, when the metal contacts with the semiconductor,
the photogenerated electrons will transer rom g-C3N4 with a higher
Fermi level to the metal to orm a Schottky barrier. Thereore, the
deposition o metals on the surace o the semiconductor can promote
the separation o photogenerated carriers and improve photocatalytic
activity.
Generally, depositing noble metals (such as Pt, Pd, Ag, Au, etc.) on
the surace o semiconductor catalyst will urther broaden the light
absorption range o semiconductor materials thanks to the surace
plasmon resonance eect.[37] Samanta et al. deposited Au nano-
particles on g-C3N4, and the synergy o the CB minima o g-C3N4 and the
plasmonic band o Au nanoparticles made the composite material have
good light absorption capacity and low photoluminescence intensity.
[109] Furthermore, ater heat treatment in a mixed gas o argon and
hydrogen, the Pt nanoparticles were selectively immobilized on the
tri-coordination graphitized nitrogen o g-C3N4 to obtain a photocatalyst
with uniorm particle size and good dispersibility.[110] And the syn-
ergistic eect o Pt0 and Pt2+ species signicantly improved the photo-
catalytic activity.[110] Hak et al. deposited Pd, Ag, and Au
nanoparticles on the g-C3N4 surace by natural illumination, respec-
tively.[111] It is worth nothing that the noble metal nanoparticles are
more than electron acceptors to reduce the recombination rate o pho-
togenerated carriers and it can also signicantly enhance the light ab-
sorption perormance.[111] And bisphenol A can be completely
degraded by the composites within 90 min[111] However, due to the
high price and scarcity o precious metals, many scholars have tried to
modiy the surace o g-C3N4 by depositing non-precious metals such as
Bi,[112] Ni, [113] Cu[114] and Co[115].
2.2.5. Heterojunction construction
Many studies have shown that the heterojunctions constructed by
combining g-C3N4 with other semiconductors with matching band
structures can combine the advantages o each component and the di-
erence o the energy band structure to orm a built-in electric eld
between the materials to accelerate the transer o photogenerated
carriers and inhibit the recombination o photogenerated electrons and
holes, thus improving the photocatalytic perormance. According to the
dierent separation/transer mechanisms o photogenerated electron-
hole pairs, g-C3N4-based heterojunctions mainly include Type-II, p-n,
Z-scheme, new S-scheme and Schottky heterojunctions. The charge
transer path o Type-II heterojunction is shown in Fig. 13a. [116,117]
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Fig. 12. (a) Schematic illustration o the synthesis procedure o porous g-C3N4. (b) schematic illustration o the bottom-up supramolecular sel-assembly route or
synthesizing 3D g-C3N4 NS; (c) SEM image, (d) TEM image (HRTEM image inset) and (e) AFM image o 3D g-C3N4 NS-2.
(a) Reproduced with permission rom re. [106], Copyright © 2019, American Chemical Society. (b-e) Reproduced with permission rom re. [108], Copyright ©
2019, Elsevier.

The semiconductor is excited by light to generate electrons and holes.
Under the action o the potential dierence, the electrons in the semi-
conductor I (SC I) are transerred to the CB o the semiconductor II (SC
II), while the holes in the VB o the SC II are transerred to the VB o the
SC I. And the ecient separation o the photogenerated carriers enables
the CB o the SC II, mainly composed o the photogenerated electrons
and holes, and the VB o the SC I to participate in the reduction reaction
and oxidation reaction, respectively, and eventually enhance the pho-
tocatalytic activity. Although Type-II heterojunctions can inhibit the
recombination o photogenerated charges, it reduces the redox ability o
compound semiconductors, and it is dicult to continuously transer
electrons and holes due to electrostatic repulsion. In response to the
above problems o Type-II heterojunctions, inspired by natural photo-
synthesis, the g-C3N4-based Z-scheme heterojunction[118,119] was
constructed (Fig. 13b-c). Dierent rom Type-II heterojunction, the
electrons on SC II with a lower CB position recombine with the holes on
the VB o SC I through the heterojunction or the intermediate con-
ducting medium under visible light irradiation, so that strong redox
ability o the photocatalyst could be maintained.
In recent years, Fu et al. proposed a novel S-scheme heterojunction
with staggered band structures, composed o two n-type semiconductor
photocatalysts (Fig. 13d), in which SC I and SC II represent reduction
photocatalysts and oxidation photocatalysts, respectively.[120,121]
And driven by the built-in electric eld, band bending and Coulomb
gravity, photogenerated electrons and holes o the S-scheme hetero-
junction recombine at the heterojunction interace, improving the
charge separation eciency. Meanwhile, the original high redox ca-
pacity is retained.[120–123] Additionally, the composite materials such
as cocatalyst-ree 2D/2D CdS/g-C3N4 S-scheme and ultrathin S-scheme
heterojunction g-C3N4/TiO2/C have also been successully abricated,
which provide a good opportunity to improve the separation eciency
o photogenerated carriers.[124,125] Furthermore, g-C3N4, as a typical
n-type semiconductor, can suppress photogenerated carrier recombi-
nation by constructing a p-n heterojunction with a suitable p-type
semiconductor (Fig. 14e). In the p-n heterojunction, in general, the
Fermi level (EF, p) o the p-type semiconductor is near its VB, while the
Fermi level (EF, n) o an n-type semiconductor is generally near its CB,
thereore, a built-in electric eld is ormed at the interace rom the
n-type semiconductor to the p-type semiconductor. [116,117] Once
irradiated by visible light, the photogenerated electrons will transer
rom the CB o the p-type semiconductor to the CB o the n-type semi-
conductor through the interace, while the holes will transer in the
opposite direction, so that the photogenerated carriers can be eectively
separated.[116,117] Various p-type semiconductors such as LaFeO3,
[126] BiOI,[127] CoNiO2[38] have been used to construct p-n
heterojunctions.
3. g-C3N4-based materials for wastewater remediation and
pollutants removal
g-C3N4-based materials are considered as ideal materials or
removing various pollutants such as organics and heavy metal ions in
wastewater due to their outstanding advantages o suitable optical band
gap, abundant reactive sites, high specic surace area and high chem-
ical stability. And they have been widely applied in the eld o water
remediation and pollutants removal.
3.1. g-C3N4-based materials or removing organic pollutants
Various toxic and reractory organic pollutants, such as dyes, pesti-
cides and PPCPs, have been released into the environment and caused
serious harm. And the pollutants have become one o the major chal-
lenges in the eld o environmental remediation. The removal o organic
pollutants in wastewater by g-C3N4-based materials mainly include
adsorption, photocatalysis, and synergistic treatment o adsorption and
photocatalysis.
3.1.1. Adsorption
Treating wastewater by adsorbents has become one o the most
eective methods. High specic surace area, abundant unctional
groups and active sites are the excellent eatures o g-C3N4-based ma-
terials, which can realize the removal o organic pollutants in waste-
water, through dierent interactions (hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic
interaction, electrostatic attraction, etc.) between materials and pollut-
ants. And the adsorption perormance is closely related to the unctional
groups and structures on the surace o g-C3N4-based materials, the
structure o organic pollutants and the solution environment.[128] The
2D layered structure, multiunctional groups and/or deect sites o
g-C3N4 make it an excellent adsorbent.[129] The two-dimensional
porous g-C3N4 nanosheets abricated by an acidic hydrothermal
method, exhibited good selective adsorption perormance or anionic
methyl orange by means o strong electrostatic attraction.[129]
Furthermore, the g-C3N4-ZnO@graphene aerogel heterojunction
showed good adsorption perormance or rhodamine B, methyl orange
and other organic dyes, which provided a good basis or urther

13
J. Xing et al.
Fig. 13. Schematic illustration o the transer o photoinduced charge carriers or various types o heterojunction nanocomposites: (a) type-II heterojunction; (b)
semiconductor-semiconductor Z-scheme heterojunction; (c) semiconductor-conductor-semiconductor Z-scheme heterojunction; (d) S-scheme heterojunction; (e) p-n
heterojunction.
photocatalytic degradation.[130] The g-C3N4/MoO3 nanocomposites
synthesized by co-precipitation method exhibited 162 mg g1 adsorp-
tion capacity or 300 mg L1 dicloenac with solution concentration o
1 g L1 at pH= 6.[131] The Cu2MoS4/g-C3N4 with unique fower
structure abricated by a one-step hydrothermal method showed higher
adsorption properties than other adsorbent materials and good cycle
stability, with the adsorption o rhodamine B as high as 420.2 mg g1.
[132] However, the selective adsorption o organic pollutants is still a
challenge or g-C3N4-based materials, due to the high similarity o
organic molecular structures.[128].
3.1.2. Photocatalysis
The g-C3N4-based materials with suitable optical bandgap and good
light absorption ability can eciently mineralize organic pollutants into
non-toxic substances such as CO2 and H2O under visible light
14
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
irradiation. The application o it in water remediation has been studied
by many researchers. The porous g-C3N4 nanosheets obtained by ther-
mal condensation o melamine and cyanuric acid showed excellent
degradation activity to tetracycline (over 60%) and rhodamine B
(100%) ater 15 min o visible light irradiation, mainly due to super-
oxide radicals and holes generated by the photocatalytic process.[25]
Beneting rom the synergistic eect o Eu(III) doping and hollow
structure, the carrier separation eciency o the Eu(III)-doped g-C3N4 is
higher, and the degradation rates o rhodamine B and tetracycline in
wastewater is as high as 98% and 82%, respectively.[46] Moreover, the
Ag-deposited g-C3N4 exhibits degradation eciency o bisphenol A 3.15
times higher than that o pristine g-C3N4 due to ormation o Schottky
barrier at the interace, which promotes the separation o photo-
generated carrier.[111] The g-C3N4-CdS/Bi4O5I2 heterojunction pro-
vides multiple channels or photogenerated charge transer and could
degrade acetaminophen at degradation rate o 80% within 25 min[133]
J. Xing et al.
Fig. 14. (a) Schematic illustration o the simultaneous photocatalytic reduction o Cr(VI) and oxidation o BPA over a direct Z-scheme MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 het-
erojunction under visible light irradiation. (b) simultaneous photocatalytic reduction o Cr(VI) and degradation o BPA over MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 at dierent initial
concentration ratios under visible light irradiation. (c) proposed adsorption and photocatalytic mechanism o P/S-g-C3Nx in BH and Cr(VI) coexistence environment
under air ambient.
(a-b) Reproduced with permission rom re. [145], Copyright © 2020, Elsevier. (c) Reproduced with permission rom re. [146], Copyright © 2020, Elsevier.
Furthermore, taking advantage o unique upconversion photo-
luminescence properties and ecient charge separation ability o CDs,
Li et al. utilized the as-prepared CDs/g-C3N4/SnO2 composites or the
photocatalytic degradation o indomethacin under visible light irradia-
tion and the degradation rate was 5.62 times higher than that o pristine
g-C3N4.[134].
3.1.3. Adsorption and photocatalysis synergistic treatment
By the virtue o the excellent structure, g-C3N4-based materials also
show synergistic adsorption and photocatalysis o organic pollutants in
wastewater (adsorption and enrichment o organic pollutants rst, and
then decomposition and mineralization o organic pollutants through
photocatalytic process), which can solve the problems o adsorption
saturation and regeneration, and realize the long-term recycling.[135] A
3D–2D-3D BiOI/porous g-C3N4/graphene hydrogel composite photo-
catalyst with excellent adsorption perormance and charge separation
ability, synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal method, exhibited good
adsorption-photocatalytic synergistic treatment perormance and ease
o recycling.[135] When it was applied to a static wastewater system,
the synergistic degradation eciencies o methylene blue and levo-
foxacin hydrochloride were 7.2 and 2.7 times higher than that o BiOI,
respectively.[135].
3.2. g-C3N4-based materials or removing heavy metals
Heavy metals are highly toxic and dicult to degrade. With the rapid
development o industry, the concentration o heavy metals in waste-
water is getting higher and higher, which will cause irreversible damage
to humans and the environment.[136] Among them, Hg, Pb, Cr, Cd, As,
Th and U are considered to have severe impact on human health and
even a small amount o exposure can cause serious damage to body
organs.[137] Thereore, nding a suitable treatment method is one o
the hotspots in the eld o water remediation. The g-C3N4-based mate-
rials show great potential and advantages or the removal o heavy metal
ions. And the application o g-C3N4-based materials or the removal o
15
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
heavy metal can through adsorption, photocatalysis or through combi-
nation o adsorption and photocatalysis.
For example, the hydroxyapatite modied g-C3N4 powders, with rich
surace hydroxyl, phosphate and -NH2/-NH-/=N- and other surace
unctional groups to orm chemical interactions with metal ions, were
used to treat wastewater containing Cu2+, Mn2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Fe3+ and
Cd2+ metal ions, and exhibited high adsorption capacity.[138] And with
the increase o pH, the divalent metal ions were rst adsorbed to the
catalyst surace and then substituted with Ca2+ o the hydroxyapatite.
[138] Huang et al. used mesoporous g-C3N4 or the selective adsorption
o thorium ions rom polyionic solutions, which showed high selectivity
and eciency (93.53%), and the maximum selective adsorption o Th
(IV) could be up to 108.18 mg g1.[139] Under visible light irradiation,
the mesoporous Bi2WO6/g-C3N4 heterojunction was used as a photo-
catalyst or photocatalytic reduction o mercury ions.[140] The orma-
tion o the heterojunction not only increased the specic surace area o
the catalyst, but also promoted the eective separation o photo-
generated carriers.[140] Thereore, compared with the single catalyst,
the mesoporous Bi2WO6/g-C3N4 heterojunction exhibited excellent
photocatalytic reduction activity o mercury ions (700 µmol g1 h1)
and photocatalytic reaction eciency (100%).[140].
In addition to adsorbing heavy metal ions rom aqueous solutions,
high-valent heavy metal ions can also be reduced to low-valent metal
ions by adsorption reduction or photocatalytic reduction under visible
light irradiation, and then can be in situ precipitated and immobilized
on solid particles, avoiding the transmission o heavy metal ions into the
ood chain.[128] Chen et al. used Fe0 @PTA/g-C3N4 composite or the
adsorption and removal o As(V) in water.[40] The removal o As(V) was
mainly through the reduction o As(V) and the oxidation o Fe0, and the
maximum adsorption capacity could reach 70.3 mg g1.[141] Tang
et al. used g-C3N4 fakes as a carrier to stabilize nanoscale zero-valent
iron (nZVI), and the reduction rate o Pb(II) o the obtained product is
twice higher than that o nZVI alone.[142] When ZIF-8/g-C3N4 was used
or photocatalytic reduction o U(VI), it exhibited excellent photo-
catalytic activity and chemical stability, and the photocatalyst partially
photoreduced the adsorbed U(VI) to U(IV) within 30 min[143]
J. Xing et al.
However, the photoreduction rate decreased signicantly with the in-
crease o pH.[143] In another study, Ou et al. used the adsorption and
photocatalytic synergy o CoFe-LDH/g-C3N4 to adsorb 60% Cr(VI)
(50 mg L1) in 10 min, and Cr(VI) could be completely reduced to Cr
(III) under visible light irradiation or 90 min[144].
3.3. Simultaneous decontamination
The composition o actual wastewater is complex, usually containing
many dierent types o pollutants, such as heavy metal ions, organic
pollution, biomass, etc. Under visible light irradiation, organics and
heavy metal ions could interact each other, so that the synergistic
removal can be achieved.
Currently, or the simultaneous decontamination system, wastewater
containing with Cr(VI) and organic pollutants is mainly studied. For
example, Zhao et al. obtained a biunctional MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 pho-
tocatalyst by in situ growth o MIL-101(Fe) on the surace o g-C3N4, or
the simultaneous photocatalytic treatment o Cr(VI) and bisphenol A.
[145] As shown in Fig. 14a, the photogenerated electrons participated in
the reduction o Cr(VI) and the degradation o bisphenol A simulta-
neously, in which bisphenol A acted as a hole scavenger to promote the
separation o photogenerated carriers, enhancing the photocatalytic
reduction ability o Cr(VI).[145] In coexisting system o dierent pol-
lutants, the reduction rate o Cr(VI) and the degradation rate o
bisphenol A by the catalyst could reach 97.1% and 87.7%, respectively,
which were much higher than 26.2% and 46.6% o the single pollutant
system (Fig. 14b).[145] P and S co-doped g-C3N4 with eeble N va-
cancies (P/S-g-C3N4) prepared by supramolecular sel-assembly could
also treat wastewater containing berberine hydrochloride and Cr(VI)
through synergistic eect o adsorption and photocatalysis, as shown in
Fig. 14c.[146] The adsorption process o P/S-g-C3N4 accelerated the
photocatalytic degradation process and promoted the removal o
berberine hydrochloride.[146] Meanwhile, berberine hydrochloride
also promoted the surace adsorption o Cr(VI) on the catalyst, which
was benecial to the reduction o Cr(VI).[146] Ater 2 h o visible light
irradiation, the berberine hydrochloride degradation rate and the
reduction rate o Cr(VI) could reach 90.05% and 73.83%, respectively.
[146] When N-TiO2/O-doped N vacancy g-C3N4 was used to treat
wastewater containing tetracycline hydrochloride and Cr(VI)[147] and
RP/g-C3N4 heterojunction was used to treat in wastewater containing Cr
(VI) and rhodamine B,[148] signicantly increase o removal eciency
due to synergistic eect were also observed. Table 1 summarizes the
related researches on the treatment o pollutants with g-C3N4-based
materials in recent years.
4. Mechanism
In order to better illustrate the pollutants removal behaviors and
provides theoretical basis or improving the wastewater treatment ca-
pacity and eciency o g-C3N4 materials, the mechanisms o adsorption
and photocatalysis are discussed.
4.1. Adsorption mechanism, kinetics and thermodynamics
Adsorption usually occurs in the process o water remediation. The
main unctional groups o g-C3N4 prepared by direct calcination o
nitrogen-rich precursors are -NH2/-NH-/=N-, which can be modied
with dierent unctional groups (such as carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, etc.)
by constructing a heterojunction to improve the adsorption perormance
or dierent pollutants.[149] In general, the adsorption mechanism o
g-C3N4-based materials is generally investigated rom two aspects: (1)
the interaction between g-C3N4-based materials and pollutants during
the adsorption process; (2) the kinetics and thermodynamics o the
adsorption process.
The adsorption behavior between g-C3N4-based materials and pol-
lutants is usually induced by the interactions such as electrostatic
16
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
attraction, π-π interaction, hydrogen bonding, and surace complexa-
tion. For the treatment o heavy metal ions and surace-charged or-
ganics, electrostatic attraction and surace complexation are generally
the main interactions, which can be conrmed by FTIR spectroscopy,
XPS spectroscopy and other analyses. In addition, the pH o the solution
is an important actor aecting the adsorption perormance o g-C3N4-
based materials. It was ound that the electrostatic attraction interaction
is the main reason when the negatively charged Cu2MoS4/g-C3N4
composite was used to treat the cationic rhodamine B.[132] At low pH,
the adsorption capacity did not change much, while at pH= 9, the
dissociation o carboxylic acid groups in rhodamine B and the depro-
tonation o nitrogen groups accelerated, which increased the electro-
static repulsion between them and reduced the adsorption perormance.
[132] FTIR and XPS spectra showed that the surace o g-C3N4/β-CD
material obtained by β-cyclodextrin modication had abundant unc-
tional groups and active sites (such as C– – O, C-O-C, -OH, etc.).[149]
When treating Pb(II) wastewater, pH could aect the surace properties
o g-C3N4/β-CD and the degree o protonation o oxygen-containing
unctional groups. It can also aect the morphological distribution o
Pb(II).[149] When pH< 7.0, Pb2+ and Pb(OH)+ are dominant, and the
adsorption process is mainly the surace complexation and electrostatic
attraction between hydroxyl or heptazine ring and Pb(II), while when
pH> 7.0, the adsorption process is mainly surace complexation o Pb
(II) with hydroxyl groups.[149] In addition, when g-C3N4/β-CD was
used to adsorb methyl orange, the adsorption behavior was mainly due
to hydrogen bonding and van der Waals orce.[149] Rashid et al. also
ound that the π-π interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction were
the main reasons or the adsorption o dicloenac by g-C3N4/MoO3,
which could also be conrmed by the π-π stacking o dicloenac on the
nanocomposite and the tendency o -NH to increase the adsorption o
dicloenac molecules.[131].
Moreover, the determination o the kinetics is critical or the design
o adsorption systems. The commonly used adsorption kinetic models
include the pseudo-rst-order kinetic model and the pseudo-second-
order kinetic model,[149,150] which describes the relationship be-
tween the adsorption capacity o the adsorbent and the contact time, as
shown in as Eq. (1) and Eq. (2), respectively.[151].
ln(qe  qt ) = lnqe  k1 t (1)
t 1 t
= + (2)
qe k2 q2e qe
Where qe (mol g1) and qt (mol g1) are the adsorption capacity o the
adsorbent at equilibrium state and time t. k1 (h1) and k2 (g mol1 h1)
are the rate constants o the pseudo-rst-order kinetic equation and the
pseudo-second-order kinetic equation, respectively. The adsorption o
methyl orange and Pb(II) by g-C3N4/β-CD ts the pseudo-second-order
kinetic model, so that the rate-limiting step is the chemisorption pro-
cess, which is related to valance orces arising rom the sharing or ex-
change o electrons between the adsorbent and the adsorbate.[149,152].
The adsorption thermodynamics can be revealed through the study
o adsorption isotherms. The Langmuir model and the Freundlich model
are extensively used.[150] The Langmuir model assumed that all
adsorption active sites have the same adsorption energy and can only
bind a single adsorbate. Once the adsorptive sites are occupied, there
will be no more adsorption behaviors on these sites, which can well
describe the ideal monolayer homogeneous adsorption, as shown in Eq.
(3).[152] While the Freundlich model is an empirical model that con-
siders the heterogeneous energy distribution o active sites.[151,152] It
is conrmed to be consistent with the exponential distribution o
non-uniorm surace active centers, and can well describe the non-ideal
multi-layer adsorption, as shown Eq. (4).[152].
bqmax Ce
qe = (3)
1 + bCe
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Table 1
Removal eciency o g-C3N4-based materials or wastewater pollutants.
g-C3N4 based Mechanisms Conditions Pollutants Removal eciency/ Sorption capacity Re.
materials

g-C3N4/MoO3 Adsorption pH= 6 Dicloenac (300 mg L1) 162 mg g1 [131]

Solid: 1 g L1
Cu2MoS4/ Adsorption Solid: 0.3 g L1 Rhodamine B (50 mg L 1
) 420.2 mg g 1
[132]
g-C3N4
mpg-C3N4 Adsorption Solid: 1 g L1 Th (IV) (250 mg L1) 93.53%/196.08 mg g1 [139]
pH= 4.0
Fe0 @PTA/ Adsorption Solid: 3 g L1 As(V) (500 mg L1) 90% in 250 min/ [141]
g-C3N4 25 ℃ 70.3 mg g1
3D/2D TiO2/ Photocatalysis Solid: 0.5 g L1 Tetracycline (20 mg L 1
) k = 0.0317 min1 [129]
g-C3N4 Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
CM-CN Photocatalysis Solid: 1 g L1 Rhodamine B (20 mg L1) 100% in 15 min [25]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp (400 < Tetracycline (20 mg L1) over 60% in 15 min
λ < 800 nm)
C/Ce-CN Photocatalysis Solid: 0.5 g L1 Tetracycline (10 mg L1) 90.1% in 60 min [45]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (5 mg L1) 99.4% in 120 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
Eu-CN Photocatalysis Solid: 0.2 g L1 Tetracycline (20 mg L1) 82% in 50 min [46]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (10 mg L1) 98% in 50 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
K-CN Photocatalysis Solid: 0.4 g L1 Tetracycline (10 mg L1) 83% in 90 min [48]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
CN_S Photocatalysis Solid: 0.2 g L1 Tetracycline (20 mg L1) 70% in 180 min [100]
Illumination: 6 W LED lamp Rhodamine B (5 mg L1) 90% in 180 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
Cu/MCNS Photocatalysis Solid: 0.7 g L1 Methyl orange (11 mg L1) About 100% in 90 min [114]
Illumination: 300 W halogen lamp
(λ > 420 nm)
g-C3N4/ Photocatalysis Solid: 0.4 g L1 Tetracycline (10 mg L1) 86.1% in 120 min [119]
NBGO/BiVO4 Illumination: 500 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
g-C3N4-CdS/Bi4O5I2 Photocatalysis Solid: 0.5 g L1 Acetaminophen (10 mg L1) 80% in 25 min [133]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
CDs/ g-C3N4/ SnO2 Photocatalysis Solid: 0.2 g L1 Indomethacin (10 mg L1) 90.8% in 80 min [134]
Illumination: 350 W Xe
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
MIL-101(Fe)/ g- Photocatalysis Solid: 0.5 g L1 Cr(VI) (20 mg L1) and Bisphenol A 97.1% in 240 min [145]
C3N4 Illumination:150 W halogen cold (20 mg L1) simultaneously 87.7% in 240 min
light source (λ ≥ 420 nm)
Bi2WO6/ Photocatalysis Solid: 1 g L1 Hg (II) (100 mg L1) 100% in 60 min [140]
g-C3N4 Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 400 nm)
ZIF-8/ g-C3N4 Photocatalysis Solid: 0.1 g L1 U(VI) (10 mg L1) 100% in 30 min [143]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
N-TiO2/ Photocatalysis Solid: 0.4 g L1 Tetracycline hydrochloride (30 mg L1) Tetracycline hydrochloride: 79.9% in [147]
CNONV Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp and Cr(VI) (15 mg L1) simultaneously 120 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm) Cr(VI): 100% in 40 min
RP/ g-C3N4 Photocatalysis Solid: 0.4 g L1 Cr(VI) (40 mg L1) and Rhodamine B Cr(VI): 92% in 25 min [148]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp (20 mg L1) simultaneously Rhodamine B: 99% in 25 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
PSCN Photocatalysis Solid: 1.1 g L1 Methyl blue (4 ×106 M) 100% in 180 min [64]
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
CBCN Photocatalysis Solid: 0.6 g L1 Rhodamine B (10 mg L1) 90% in 90 min [73]
Illumination: 500 W Xe lamp
CM-CN-Th A Photocatalysis Solid: 0.5 g L1 Rhodamine B (5 mg L 1
) 89.22% in 90 min [101]
Illumination: 500 W Xe lamp
(λ > 420 nm)
g-C3N4-ZnO@GA Adsorption & Solid: 0.2 g L1 Rhodamine B (20 mg L1) 81% in 120 min [130]
photocatalysis Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
3
D–2D-3D BiOI/ Adsorption & Solid: 0.25 g L1 Methylene blue (40 mg L1) 0.472 h1 [135]
porous g-C3N4/ photocatalysis Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp Levofoxacin hydrochloride 0.161 h1
graphene (λ ≥ 420 nm) (20 mg L1)
hydrogel
CoFe-LDH/ Adsorption & Solid: 1 g L1 Cr(VI) (10 mg L1) Adsorption: 60% in 10 min; adsorption [144]
g-C3N4 photocatalysis pH= 2.0 and photocatalysis: 100% in 90 min
Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp
(λ ≥ 420 nm)
P/S-g-C3Nx Adsorption & Solid: 0.5 g L1 Berberine hydrochloride (10 mg L1) and Berberine hydrochloride: 90.05% in [146]
photocatalysis Illumination: 300 W Xe lamp Cr(VI) (5 mg L1) simultaneously 120 min
(λ ≥ 420 nm); Cr(VI): 73.87% in 120 min
the light intensity: 150 mW cm2

17
J. Xing et al.
qe = KF CenF (4)
where qe (mol g1) is the adsorption capacity o the adsorbent at equi-
librium. b (L mol1) is a constant related to the heat o adsorption. qmax
(mol g1) is the monolayer saturated adsorption capacity. Ce (mol L1) is
the equilibrium concentration o pollutants in the solution. KF (mol1n
Ln g1) is the Freundlich constant related to the adsorption amount. nF is
a constant related to the adsorption strength. The adsorption isotherms
o dicloenac by g-C3N4/MoO3 t the Langmuir model,[131] while the
adsorption isotherms o rhodamine B by Cu2MoS4/g-C3N4 t both the
Langmuir model and the Freundlich model.[132].
4.2. Photocatalytic mechanism
The excellent photocatalytic treatment perormance o g-C3N4-based
materials have also attracted much attentions. Understanding the rele-
vant photocatalytic mechanism is very important or material modi-
cation to improve photocatalytic activity and optimize wastewater
treatment processes. As a visible light-responsive n-type semiconductor,
g-C3N4 has photocatalytic degradation mechanism similar to heteroge-
neous catalysis or pollutants in aqueous solution.[20,153] It mainly
includes ve steps: (1) the pollutants are transerred rom the solution to
the surace o g-C3N4; (2) the g-C3N4 adsorbs pollutants; (3) the photo-
catalytic reaction o pollutants occurs on g-C3N4 surace; (4) the
degradation products are desorbed rom g-C3N4 surace; (5) the degra-
dation products are released into solution.[20,153].
The VB o g-C3N4 are combined with the HOMO energy level o the
Pz orbital o nitrogen and carbon.[19,20] At absolute zero, the e-
completely occupies the VB with a lower energy, while the CB with
higher energy is empty.[19,20] The process o photocatalytic degrada-
tion o organic pollutants on the surace o g-C3N4 is shown in Fig. 15.
When g-C3N4 is irradiated with light, it will absorb light energy. Once
the energy exceeds its threshold, the material will be excited, producing
photogenerated electrons (e-) and holes (h+). The e- in the VB will be
enriched in the CB by excited transition, while the relatively stable
electrons e- and h+ are concentrated in the VB. Subsequently, the pho-
togenerated electrons and holes migrate to the catalyst surace. Since the
conduction band potential (ECB) and valence band potential (EVB) o
g-C3N4 are about 1.4 eV and  1.3 eV, respectively,[70] and the redox
potential o the O2/•O-2 is  0.33 eV vs. NHE, the photogenerated
electrons can easily react with the adsorbed O2 molecules to generate
•O-2.[154] But the •OH/OH- redox potential (+1.99 eV vs. NHE) is much
higher than the EVB o g-C3N4, so that the remaining h+ can’t react with
H2O and OH- to generate •OH.[154] Nevertheless, a small amount o
•OH can still be generated by reducing the adsorbed O2 through a
multi-electron reaction process.[36,153,155] Ultimately, the h+, •O-2
and •OH produced in the process can degrade organic pollutants into
Fig. 15. Mechanism o photocatalytic degradation o pollutants under light
irradiation using pristine g-C3N4 as the photocatalyst.
18
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
non-toxic products such as CO2 and H2O.
When photocatalysis is used to reduce heavy metals, the photoexci-
tation process is like the treatment o organic pollutants, as shown in
Fig. 16a, b.[140,156] Typically, hole trapping agents, such as methanol,
ormic acid, etc. are necessary to consume excess h+ and reduce the
recombination rate o e- and h+. The electrons on the CB can reduce
high-valent heavy metal ions to low-toxicity metals or metal ions by
participating in the reduction process o heavy metals, which can realize
the purication o heavy metal-containing wastewater. And the holes in
the VB oxidize it to non-toxic products like CO2 and H2O. In addition, the
mechanism o synergistic treatment o heavy metals and organic pol-
lutants under the action o photocatalysis is equivalent to combining the
process o photocatalytic treatment o heavy metals and organic pol-
lutants separately without adding a hole trapping agent, as shown in
Fig. 16a, b. When the g-C3N4-based catalyst treats Cr (VI) and berberine
hydrochloride simultaneously, the photogenerated electrons participate
in the reduction o Cr (VI), and the •O-2 generated by the adsorption o
O2 molecules and the holes in the VB can both oxidize organic pollutants
to non-toxic products such as CO2 and H2O. Table 2 describes the
progress o research on photocatalytic treatment o pollutants by
g-C3N4-based materials during the last 10 years.
While photogenerated electrons and holes participate in the reaction
respectively, there is also the recombination o the two, which will
greatly reduce the photocatalytic perormance o g-C3N4.[2] For that
reason, reducing the recombination rate o photogenerated carriers is
crucial to improve the photocatalytic activity. Generally, the photo-
catalytic perormance o g-C3N4 is determined by its photoelectric
properties, energy level structure and other properties. Thereore,
g-C3N4 can be modied by the methods o element doping, morphology
control, and construction o heterojunctions to improve the photo-
catalytic perormance o g-C3N4-based materials or the degradation o
pollutants.
Fig. 16. (a) Illustration o the upgrading o the photocatalytic reduction o
mercuric cations over mesoporous Bi2WO6/g-C3N4 heterojunctions. (b) The
diagram o the proposed mechanism o g-C3N4/TiO2 nanostructures under
simulated sunlight irradiation.
(a) Reproduced with permission rom re. [140], Copyright © 2020, Elsevier.
(b) Reproduced with permission rom re. [156], Copyright © 2021, The Royal
Society o Chemistry.
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Table 2
The evolution o research on photocatalytic treatment o pollutants by g-C3N4-based materials during the last 10 years.
g-C3N4 based Synthetic methods Modication strategies Conditions Photocatalytic eciency Re.
photocatalysts

g-g-C3N4-P3HT Solvothermal method Type-II heterojunction Phi-lips lamp (40 W/ Methylene blue (1 × 105 M): > 90% [157]
230 V)
(λ > 400 nm)
PANI–g-C3N4 In situ deposition oxidative Type-II heterojunction 500 W Xe lamp Methylene blue (10 mg L1): 92.8% within [158]
polymerization (λ ≥ 420 nm) 120 min
Mesoporous g-C3N4 Template method Morphological regulation 300 W Xe lamp 4-CP (1.2 × 104 M): nearly 100% within [159]
(λ ≥ 420 nm) 60 min
phenol (1.2 × 104 M): nearly 96% within
90 min
AuNP/g-C3N4 Ultrasonication-assisted liquid Morphological regulation and 500 W Xe lamp Methyl orange (10 mg L1): 92.6% within [160]
nanohybrids exoliation and photoreduction metal deposition (λ ≥ 400 nm) 150 min
Single layer g-C3N4 Chemical exoliation method Morphological regulation 500 W Xe lamp Phenol (2 × 105 M): 0.2589 h1 [98]
nanosheets (λ > 420 nm)
AgBr/g-C3N4 Water bath method Type-II heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Methyl orange (10 mg L1): 91% within [161]
(λ > 420 nm) 10 min
N-TiO2/g-C3N4 In situ microwave-assisted Type-II heterojunction 300 W xenon arc lamp Methylene blue (10 mg L1): 0.070 min1 [162]
synthesis approach (λ > 400 nm)
g-C3N4/SmVO4 Mixing-calcination method Type-II heterojunction 350 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (10 mg L1): nearly 100% [163]
(420 nm < within 120 min
λ < 800 nm)
Sphere-like g-C3N4/ One-pot EG-assisted Type-II heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Bisphenol A (10 mg L1): 97% within 60 min [164]
BiOI solvothermal process (λ > 400 nm)
g-C3N4/F-TiO2 Hydrothermal method Type-II heterojunction 50 W 410 nm LED Methyl orange (10 mg L 1
): 0.0374 min 1
[165]
light
Ag@AgBr/g-C3N4 Deposition-precipitation method Z-scheme heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Methyl orange (10 mg L1): 95% within [166]
(400 nm < 10 min
λ < 680 nm) Rhodamine B (10 mg L1): 95% within
10 min
Magnetic core–shell Sel-assembly method Type-II heterojunction 500 W Xe lamp Orange II (0.028 mM): nearly 98% within [167]
CuFe2O4 @C3N4 (λ > 420 nm) 210 min
g-C3N4/TiO2 Biomimetic approach Type-II heterojunction 500 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (10 mg L1): 84% within [168]
(λ ≥ 420 nm) 300 min
Acidied g-C3N4/g- Ultrasonic dispersion assisted Type-II heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Methyl orange (10 mg L1): 0.0216 min1 [169]
C3N4 hybrids electrostatic sel-assembly (λ > 420 nm)
strategy
Nb2O5/g-C3N4 One-step heating strategy Type-II heterojunction 250 W Xe lamp Tetracycline hydrochloride (20 mg L1): [170]
(λ > 420 nm) 76.2% within 150 min
V2O5/g-C3N4 In-situ growth strategy Direct solid-state Z-scheme 250 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (10 mg L1): 75.7% within [171]
heterojunction (λ > 420 nm) 120 min
Bi12GeO20/g-C3N4 Sol-gel method Solid state Z-scheme 300 W Dy lamp Rhodamine B (5 mg L1): 1.992 h1 [172]
heterojunction (λ > 400 nm) Cr (VI) (10 mg L1): almost 100% within
180 min
OA-g-C3N4 Catalytic redox-based advanced No-metal elemental doping 500 W Xe lamp Bisphenol A (15 mg L1): 100% within [173]
oxidation process 180 min
PCN-S Thermal exoliation method Morphological regulation and 300 W Xe lamp 2,4-diclorophenol (80 mg L1): nearly 100% [174]
no-metal elemental doping (λ > 400 nm) within 120 min
Cr (VI) (20 mg L1): nearly 100% within
120 min
h-BN/g-C3N4 In-situ growth strategy Metal-ree heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (10 mg L1): 79.7% within [175]
(λ > 420 nm) 60 min
Rhodamine B (20 mg L1): 99.5% within
40 min
WO3/g-C3N4/Bi2O3 One step co-calcination method Direct solid-state dual Z- 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (10 mg L1): 0.02367 min1 [176]
scheme heterojunction (λ > 420 nm)
g-C3N4/TiO2 Thermal polymerization Type-II heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Uranium (VI) (20 mg L1): 83% and Arsenic [177]
(320 nm ≤ (III) (20 mg L1): 40% within 4 h
λ ≤ 780 nm) simultaneously
BCM-C3N4 Supramolecular preassembly Morphological regulation and 300 W Xe lamp Sulamethazine (10 mg L1): over 90% [178]
no-metal elemental doping (λ > 420 nm) within 60 min
Ag/AgBr/BiVO4 Hydrothermal method and Z-scheme heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Ciprofoxacin (10 mg L1): 91.4% and Cr (VI) [179]
photoreduction process (λ > 420 nm) (10 mg L1): 91.72% within 120 min
simultaneously
Ag@U-g-C3N4-NS Mussel-inspired dopamine Morphological regulation and 300 W Xe lamp Methylene blue (10 mg L1): 88.5% within [180]
polymerization modication metal deposition 40 min
Phenol (10 mg L1): 89% within 40 min
CQDs modied g- Thermal polymerization method Carbon quantum dots 300 W Xe lamp Dicloenac (10 mg L1): 100% within 100% [181]
C3N4 modied (λ ≥ 400 nm)
Cl-doped porous g- Bottom-up synthetic route Morphological regulation and 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (10 mg L1): 92% within [182]
C3N4 no-metal elemental doping (λ > 420 nm) 120 min
2D/3D Z-scheme g- Ball-milling method Z-scheme heterojunction 300 W white light Cr (VI) (10 mg L1): 99% within 40 min [183]
C3N4/UiO-66
g-C3N4/ZrO2 Calcination method S-Scheme heterojunction Rhodamine B (10 mg L 1
): 82% within [184]
150 min
(continued on next page)

19
J. Xing et al. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782

Table 2 (continued )
g-C3N4 based Synthetic methods Modication strategies Conditions Photocatalytic eciency Re.
photocatalysts

300 W Xe lamp
(420 nm ≤
λ ≤ 760 nm)
g-C3N4/Bi/BiVO4 Chemical deposition Biunctional S-scheme 350 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (10 mg L1): 100% within [185]
heterojunction (λ > 420 nm) 40 min
2D/2D Bi2MoO6/g- Photoreduction and hydrothermal S-Scheme heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Rhodamine B (5 mg L1): 95.4% within [186]
C3N4 (λ > 420 nm) 40 min
2D–2D WO3/g-C3N4 Template-assisted method S-Scheme heterojunction 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (20 mg L1): 0.0378 min1 [187]
(λ > 420 nm)
g-C3N4 @ZIF-8 In-situ growth Core-shelled structure 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (20 mg L 1
): 89% within 60 min [188]
(λ > 430 nm)
VC-OCN One-step ormaldehyde-assisted Deect and no-metal 300 W Xe lamp P-nitrophenol (10 mg L ): 99.7% within
1
[189]
thermal polycondensation elemental doping (400 nm ≤ 60 min
λ ≤ 750 nm) atrazine (10 mg L1): 99.1% within 60 min
Carbon dots modied Thermal polymerization Z-scheme heterojunction 350 W Xe lamp Indomethacin (10 mg L1): 90.8% within [134]
g-C3N4/SnO2 (λ > 420 nm) 80 min
Nitrogen doped g- Thermal polymerization No-metal elemental doping 300 W Xe lamp Phenol (10 mg L1): 0.00626 min1 [63]
C3N4 (λ > 420 nm)
PA-CN Heating Co-monomer polymerization 300 W Xe lamp Sulamethazine (20 mg L 1
): 0.0737 min 1
[190]
condensation (λ > 400 nm)
Cu-pCN Pre-organized template sel- Metal elemental doping and 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (30 mg L1): 98% within [191]
assembly morphological regulation (λ > 420 nm) 120 min
CN Thermal polymerization Carbon vacancies and 300 W Xe lamp Tetracycline (30 mg L1): 87.9% within [192]
morphological regulation (λ > 420 nm) 75 min

5. Conclusions and prospects
g-C3N4-based materials exhibit excellent properties as ecient and
sustainable material or the removal o wastewater pollutants. Never-
theless, some issues need to be solved to realize the industrial applica-
tion o g-C3N4-based materials in wastewater treatment and pollutants
removal:
(1) Morphology regulation is a widely used modication method.
However, the use o substances such as templates, strong acids and bases
urther complicates the experiments. In recent years, supramolecular
sel-assembly method or adjusting the morphology o materials has
become a research hotspot. However, at present, the substances which
can be used as supramolecular sel-assembly units are still limited. In the
uture, more substances need to be explored to make the sel-assembly
process more simple, ecient and environmentally riendly.
(2) The construction o heterojunctions is an important method to
improve the perormance o g-C3N4-based materials. S-scheme hetero-
junctions have good photogenerated carrier separation ability and e-
cient interacial charge transer ability. The development o more novel
S-scheme heterostructures and the combination o related character-
ization methods and theoretical calculations can urther elaborate the
charge transer mechanism and synergetic eect.
(3) g-C3N4-based materials are generally solid powders, which need
to be highly dispersed in water to achieve excellent photocatalytic
perormance. However, this will increase the diculty o separation and
regeneration. The ormation o heterojunctions between g-C3N4 and
magnetic nanoparticles seem to be a promising approach to solve to this
problem. However, the secondary pollution caused by leaching o
magnetic nanoparticles and loss o catalyst is still serious. Thereore,
new material design methods should be developed to realize simple
recycling o g-C3N4-base materials in wastewater.
(4) g-C3N4-based materials show good removal perormance through
synergistic eect when treating heavy metal ions and organics simul-
taneously. But most o the research were mainly aimed at a certain
heavy metal ion, such as Cr(VI). The application range should be
expanded and the mechanism o simultaneous decontamination needs
urther exploration.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing nancial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to infuence
the work reported in this paper.
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateul to the nancial support o the National
Natural Science Foundation o China (NO. 21978201).
References
[1] W. Wang, P. Xu, M. Chen, G. Zeng, C. Zhang, C. Zhou, Y. Yang, D. Huang, C. Lai,
M. Cheng, L. Hu, W. Xiong, H. Guo, M. Zhou, Alkali metal-assisted synthesis o
graphite carbon nitride with tunable band-gap or enhanced visible-light-driven
photocatalytic perormance, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 6 (11) (2018)
15503–15516, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b03965.
[2] R. Li, X. Cui, J. Bi, X. Ji, X. Li, N. Wang, Y. Huang, X. Huang, H. Hao, Urea-
induced supramolecular sel-assembly strategy to synthesize wrinkled porous
carbon nitride nanosheets or highly-ecient visible-light photocatalytic
degradation, RSC Adv. 11 (38) (2021) 23459–23470, https://doi.org/10.1039/
d1ra03524j.
[3] J. Bi, X. Huang, J. Wang, Q. Tao, H. Lu, L. Luo, G. Li, H. Hao, Sel-assembly o
immobilized titanate lms with dierent layers or heavy metal ions removal
rom wastewater: synthesis, modeling and mechanism, Chem. Eng. J. 380 (2020),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122564.
[4] K. Fenner, S. Canonica, L.P. Wackett, M. Elsner, Evaluating pesticide degradation
in the environment: blind spots and emerging opportunities, Science 341 (6147)
(2013) 752–758, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1236281.
[5] C. Haman, X. Dauchy, C. Rosin, J.F. Munoz, Occurrence, ate and behavior o
parabens in aquatic environments: a review, Water Res 68 (2015) 1–11, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.030.
[6] Ihsanullah, Carbon nanotube membranes or water purication: developments,
challenges, and prospects or the uture, Sep. Puri. Technol. 209 (2019)
307–337, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2018.07.043.
[7] M. Kumar, M. Nandi, K. Pakshirajan, Recent advances in heavy metal recovery
rom wastewater by biogenic sulde precipitation, J. Environ. Manag. 278 (Pt 2)
(2021), 111555, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111555.
[8] M. Sillanpaa, M.C. Ncibi, A. Matilainen, M. Vepsalainen, Removal o natural
organic matter in drinking water treatment by coagulation: a comprehensive
review, Chemosphere 190 (2018) 54–71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
chemosphere.2017.09.113.
[9] E.M. Cuerda-Correa, M.F. Alexandre-Franco, C. Fernández-González, Advanced
oxidation processes or the removal o antibiotics rom water. An overview,
Water Overv., Water 12 (1) (2019), https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010102.
[10] D. Ma, H. Yi, C. Lai, X. Liu, X. Huo, Z. An, L. Li, Y. Fu, B. Li, M. Zhang, L. Qin,
S. Liu, L. Yang, Critical review o advanced oxidation processes in organic

20
J. Xing et al.
wastewater treatment, Chemosphere 275 (2021), 130104, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130104.
[11] Y. Li, S. Wang, T. Xu, J. Li, Y. Zhang, T. Xu, J. Yang, Novel designs or the
reliability and saety o supercritical water oxidation process or sludge
treatment, Process Sa. Environ. Prot. 149 (2021) 385–398, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.psep.2020.10.049.
[12] Y. Zhu, R. Zhu, Y. Xi, J. Zhu, G. Zhu, H. He, Strategies or enhancing the
heterogeneous Fenton catalytic reactivity: a review, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 255
(2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.05.041.
[13] J. Wang, H. Chen, Catalytic ozonation or water and wastewater treatment:
Recent advances and perspective, Sci. Total Environ. 704 (2020), 135249,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135249.
[14] S. Wu, H. Hu, Y. Lin, J. Zhang, Y.H. Hu, Visible light photocatalytic degradation
o tetracycline over TiO2, Chem. Eng. J. 382 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cej.2019.122842.
[15] X. Domenech, J.A. Ayllon, J. Peral, H2O2 ormation rom photocatalytic
processes at the ZnO/water interace, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 8 (4) (2001)
285–287, https://doi.org/10.1007/b02987409.
[16] L. Peng, Y. Xiao, Xl Wang, Dw Feng, H. Yu, Xt Dong, Realization o visible light
photocatalysis by wide band gap pure SnO2 and study o In2O3 sensitization
porous SnO2 photolysis catalyst, ChemistrySelect 4 (29) (2019) 8460–8469,
https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.201901977.
[17] K. Wu, H. Zhu, Z. Liu, W. Rodriguez-Cordoba, T. Lian, Ultraast charge separation
and long-lived charge separated state in photocatalytic CdS-Pt nanorod
heterostructures, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (25) (2012) 10337–10340, https://doi.
org/10.1021/ja303306u.
[18] K. Chang, X. Hai, H. Pang, H. Zhang, L. Shi, G. Liu, H. Liu, G. Zhao, M. Li, J. Ye,
Targeted synthesis o 2H- and 1T-phase MoS2 monolayers or catalytic hydrogen
evolution, Adv. Mater. 28 (45) (2016) 10033–10041, https://doi.org/10.1002/
adma.201603765.
[19] X. Wang, K. Maeda, A. Thomas, K. Takanabe, G. Xin, J.M. Carlsson, K. Domen,
M. Antonietti, A metal-ree polymeric photocatalyst or hydrogen production
rom water under visible light, Nat. Mater. 8 (1) (2009) 76–80, https://doi.org/
10.1038/nmat2317.
[20] Teter, David, M., Hemley, Russell, J., Low-compressibility carbon nitrides,
Science (1996).
[21] W.J. Ong, L.L. Tan, Y.H. Ng, S.T. Yong, S.P. Chai, Graphitic carbon nitride (g-
C3N4)-based photocatalysts or articial photosynthesis and environmental
remediation: are we a step closer to achieving sustainability, Chem. Rev. 116 (12)
(2016) 7159–7329, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00075.
[22] E. Kroke, M. Schwarz, E. Horath-Bordon, P. Kroll, B. Noll, A.D. Norman, Tri-s-
triazine derivatives. Part I. From trichloro-tri-s-triazine to graphitic C3N4
structuresPart II: alkalicyamelurates M3[C6N7O3], M = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs,
manuscript in preparation, N. J. Chem. 26 (5) (2002) 508–512, https://doi.org/
10.1039/b111062b.
[23] J. Wang, D. Hao, J. Ye, N. Umezawa, Determination o crystal structure o
graphitic carbon nitride: Ab initio evolutionary search and experimental
validation, Chem. Mater. 29 (7) (2017) 2694–2707, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.
chemmater.6b02969.
[24] E.G. Gillan, Synthesis o nitrogen-rich carbon nitride networks rom an energetic
molecular azide precursor, Chem. Mater. 12 (12) (2000) 3906–3912, https://doi.
org/10.1021/cm000570y.
[25] H. Fattahimoghaddam, T. Mahvelati-Shamsabadi, B.K. Lee, Ecient
photodegradation o rhodamine B and tetracycline over robust and green g-C3N4
nanostructures: supramolecular design, J. Hazard Mater. 403 (2021), 123703,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123703.
[26] Y. Lan, Z. Li, D. Li, G. Yan, Z. Yang, S. Guo, Graphitic carbon nitride synthesized
at dierent temperatures or enhanced visible-light photodegradation o 2-
naphthol, Appl. Sur. Sci. 467- 468 (2019) 411–422, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apsusc.2018.10.152.
[27] D.R. Paul, R. Sharma, S.P. Nehra, A. Sharma, Eect o calcination temperature,
pH and catalyst loading on photodegradation eciency o urea derived graphitic
carbon nitride towards methylene blue dye solution, RSC Adv. 9 (27) (2019)
15381–15391, https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ra02201e.
[28] J. Feng, T. Chen, S. Liu, Q. Zhou, Y. Ren, Y. Lv, Z. Fan, Improvement o g-C3N4
photocatalytic properties using the Hummers method, J. Colloid Interace Sci.
479 (2016) 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2016.06.040.
[29] K. Wang, Q. Li, B. Liu, B. Cheng, W. Ho, J. Yu, Sulur-doped g-C3N4 with
enhanced photocatalytic CO2-reduction perormance, Appl. Catal. B: Environ.
176- 177 (2015) 44–52, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.03.045.
[30] H. Montigaud, B. Tanguy, G. Demazeau, I. Alves, S. Courjault, C3N4: dream or
reality? Solvothermal synthesis as macroscopic samples o the C3N4 graphitic
orm, J. Mater. Sci. 35 (10) (2000) 2547–2552, https://doi.org/10.1023/a:
1004798509417.
[31] Z.H. Zhang, K. Leinenweber, M. Bauer, L.A.J. Garvie, P.F. McMillan, G.H. Wol,
High-pressure bulk synthesis o crystalline C6N9H3 center dot HCl: A novel C3N4
graphitic derivative, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123 (32) (2001) 7788–7796, https://doi.
org/10.1021/ja0103849.
[32] X. Bai, J. Li, C. Cao, Synthesis o hollow carbon nitride microspheres by an
electrodeposition method, Appl. Sur. Sci. 256 (8) (2010) 2327–2331, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.10.061.
[33] Y. Zhang, Z. Chen, J. Li, Z. Lu, X. Wang, Sel-assembled synthesis o oxygen-doped
g-C3N4 nanotubes in enhancement o visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen,
J. Energy Chem. 54 (2021) 36–44, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jechem.2020.05.043.
21
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
[34] J. Li, W. Ma, J. Chen, N. An, Y. Zhao, D. Wang, Z. Mao, Carbon vacancies
improved photocatalytic hydrogen generation o g-C3N4 photocatalyst via
magnesium vapor etching, Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 45 (27) (2020) 13939–13946,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.03.067.
[35] Q. Hao, G. Jia, W. Wei, A. Vinu, Y. Wang, H. Arandiyan, B.-J. Ni, Graphitic carbon
nitride with dierent dimensionalities or energy and environmental applications,
Nano Res. 13 (1) (2019) 18–37, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2589-z.
[36] Y. Chen, X. He, D. Guo, Y. Cai, J. Chen, Y. Zheng, B. Gao, B. Lin, Supramolecular
electrostatic sel-assembly o mesoporous thin-walled graphitic carbon nitride
microtubes or highly ecient visible-light photocatalytic activities, J. Energy
Chem. 49 (2020) 214–223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2020.02.035.
[37] R. Kavitha, P.M. Nithya, S. Girish Kumar, Noble metal deposited graphitic carbon
nitride based heterojunction photocatalysts, Appl. Sur. Sci. 508 (2020), https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.145142.
[38] F.-F. Chen, J. Chen, L. Li, F. Peng, Y. Yu, g-C3N4 microtubes@CoNiO2 nanosheets
p-n heterojunction with a hierarchical hollow structure or ecient
photocatalytic CO2 reduction, Appl. Sur. Sci. 579 (2022), https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.151997.
[39] S. Cao, J. Low, J. Yu, M. Jaroniec, Polymeric photocatalysts based on graphitic
carbon nitride, Adv. Mater. 27 (13) (2015) 2150–2176, https://doi.org/10.1002/
adma.201500033.
[40] S. Patnaik, D.P. Sahoo, K. Parida, Recent advances in anion doped g-C3N4
photocatalysts: A review, Carbon 172 (2021) 682–711, https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.carbon.2020.10.073.
[41] G.P. Dong, Y.H. Zhang, Q.W. Pan, J.R. Qiu, A antastic graphitic carbon nitride (g-
C3N4) material: Electronic structure, photocatalytic and photoelectronic
properties, J. Photochem. Photobiol. C. Photochem. Rev. 20 (2014) 33–50,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochemrev.2014.04.002.
[42] J.-N. Zhu, X.-Q. Zhu, F.-F. Cheng, P. Li, F. Wang, Y.-W. Xiao, W.-W. Xiong,
Preparing copper doped carbon nitride rom melamine templated crystalline
copper chloride or Fenton-like catalysis, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 256 (2019),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.117830.
[43] H. Li, J. Qian, B. Pan, N-coordinated Co containing porous carbon as catalyst with
improved dispersity and stability to activate peroxymonosulate or degradation
o organic pollutants, Chem. Eng. J. 403 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cej.2020.126395.
[44] X. Yu, H. Su, J. Zou, Q. Liu, L. Wang, H. Tang, Doping-induced metal-N active
sites and bandgap engineering in graphitic carbon nitride or enhancing
photocatalytic H2 evolution perormance, Chin. J. Catal. 43 (2) (2022) 421–432,
https://doi.org/10.1016/s1872-2067(21)63849-4.
[45] K. Wu, D. Chen, S. Lu, J. Fang, X. Zhu, F. Yang, T. Pan, Z. Fang, Supramolecular
sel-assembly synthesis o noble-metal-ree (C, Ce) co-doped g-C3N4 with porous
structure or highly ecient photocatalytic degradation o organic pollutants,
J. Hazard Mater. 382 (2020), 121027, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jhazmat.2019.121027.
[46] M. Wang, P. Guo, Y. Zhang, C. Lv, T. Liu, T. Chai, Y. Xie, Y. Wang, T. Zhu,
Synthesis o hollow lantern-like Eu(III)-doped g-C3N4 with enhanced visible light
photocatalytic peromance or organic degradation, J. Hazard Mater. 349 (2018)
224–233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.01.058.
[47] H. Zhang, Y. Tang, Z. Liu, Z. Zhu, X. Tang, Y. Wang, Study on optical properties o
alkali metal doped g-C3N4 and their photocatalytic activity or reduction o CO2,
Chem. Phys. Lett. 751 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2020.137467.
[48] T. Wu, Q. He, Z. Liu, B. Shao, Q. Liang, Y. Pan, J. Huang, Z. Peng, Y. Liu, C. Zhao,
X. Yuan, L. Tang, S. Gong, Tube wall delamination engineering induces
photogenerated carrier separation to achieve photocatalytic perormance
improvement o tubular g-C3N4, J. Hazard Mater. 424 (Pt A) (2022), 127177,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127177.
[49] H. Dong, Y. Zuo, N. Song, S. Hong, M. Xiao, D. Zhu, J. Sun, G. Chen, C. Li,
Bimetallic synergetic regulating eect on electronic structure in cobalt/vanadium
co-doped carbon nitride or boosting photocatalytic perormance, Appl. Catal. B
Environ. 287 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.119954.
[50] A. Kumar, S. Kashyap, M. Sharma, V. Krishnan, Tuning the surace and optical
properties o graphitic carbon nitride by incorporation o alkali metals (Na, K, Cs
and Rb): eect on photocatalytic removal o organic pollutants, Chemosphere
287 (Pt 1) (2022), 131988, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
chemosphere.2021.131988.
[51] H. Yang, Y. Zhou, Y. Wang, S. Hu, B. Wang, Q. Liao, H. Li, J. Bao, G. Ge, S. Jia,
Three-dimensional fower-like phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 with a high surace
area or visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, J. Mater. Chem. A 6 (34)
(2018) 16485–16494, https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ta05723k.
[52] S. Guo, Y. Tang, Y. Xie, C. Tian, Q. Feng, W. Zhou, B. Jiang, P-doped tubular g-
C3N4 with surace carbon deects: Universal synthesis and enhanced visible-light
photocatalytic hydrogen production, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 218 (2017)
664–671, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.07.022.
[53] S. Thaweesak, S. Wang, M. Lyu, M. Xiao, P. Peerakiatkhajohn, L. Wang, Boron-
doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets or enhanced visible light
photocatalytic water splitting, Dalton Trans. 46 (32) (2017) 10714–10720,
https://doi.org/10.1039/c7dt00933j.
[54] Y. Wang, Y. Tian, L. Yan, Z. Su, DFT study on sulur-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets as
a photocatalyst or CO2 reduction reaction, J. Phys. Chem. C. 122 (14) (2018)
7712–7719, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b00098.
[55] Y. Zeng, X. Liu, C. Liu, L. Wang, Y. Xia, S. Zhang, S. Luo, Y. Pei, Scalable one-step
production o porous oxygen-doped g-C3N4 nanorods with eective electron
separation or excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity, Appl. Catal. B:
Environ. 224 (2018) 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.10.042.
J. Xing et al.
[56] B. Zhu, J. Zhang, C. Jiang, B. Cheng, J. Yu, First principle investigation o
halogen-doped monolayer g-C3N4 photocatalyst, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 207
(2017) 27–34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.02.020.
[57] M.A. Mohamed, M.F.M. Zain, L.J. Minggu, M.B. Kassim, J. Jaaar, N.A. Saidina
Amin, Z.A. Mohd Hir, M.S. Rosmi, Enhancement o visible light photocatalytic
hydrogen evolution by bio-mimetic C-doped graphitic carbon nitride, Int. J.
Hydrog. Energy 44 (26) (2019) 13098–13105, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ijhydene.2019.02.243.
[58] H. Li, F. Li, Z. Wang, Y. Jiao, Y. Liu, P. Wang, X. Zhang, X. Qin, Y. Dai, B. Huang,
Fabrication o carbon bridged g-C3N4 through supramolecular sel-assembly or
enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 229 (2018)
114–120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.02.026.
[59] E. Liu, X. Lin, Y. Hong, L. Yang, B. Luo, W. Shi, J. Shi, Rational copolymerization
strategy engineered C sel-doped g-C3N4 or ecient and robust solar
photocatalytic H2 evolution, Renew. Energy 178 (2021) 757–765, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.06.066.
[60] G. Liu, M. Xue, Q. Liu, H. Yang, Y. Zhou, Facile synthesis o C-doped hollow
spherical g-C3N4 rom supramolecular sel-assembly or enhanced photoredox
water splitting, Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 44 (47) (2019) 25671–25679, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.08.056.
[61] Y. Yang, J. Liu, C. Zhou, P. Zhang, S. Guo, S. Li, X. Meng, Y. Lu, H. Xu, H. Ma,
L. Chen, In situ sel-assembly synthesis o carbon sel-doped graphite carbon
nitride hexagonal tubes with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Int. J.
Hydrog. Energy 44 (50) (2019) 27354–27362, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ijhydene.2019.08.172.
[62] Y. Zhou, L. Zhang, W. Huang, Q. Kong, X. Fan, M. Wang, J. Shi, N-doped graphitic
carbon-incorporated g-C3N4 or remarkably enhanced photocatalytic H2
evolution under visible light, Carbon 99 (2016) 111–117, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.carbon.2015.12.008.
[63] D. Zhu, Q. Zhou, Nitrogen doped g-C3N4 with the extremely narrow band gap or
excellent photocatalytic activities under visible light, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 281
(2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.119474.
[64] C. Hu, W.-Z. Hung, M.-S. Wang, P.-J. Lu, Phosphorus and sulur codoped g-C3N4
as an ecient metal-ree photocatalyst, Carbon 127 (2018) 374–383, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.11.019.
[65] Q. Liu, J. Shen, X. Yu, X. Yang, W. Liu, J. Yang, H. Tang, H. Xu, H. Li, Y. Li, J. Xu,
Unveiling the origin o boosted photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in
simultaneously (S, P, O)-Codoped and exoliated ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets,
Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 248 (2019) 84–94, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2019.02.020.
[66] W. Fang, J. Liu, L. Yu, Z. Jiang, W. Shangguan, Novel (Na, O) co-doped g-C3N4
with simultaneously enhanced absorption and narrowed bandgap or highly
ecient hydrogen evolution, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 209 (2017) 631–636,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.03.041.
[67] L. Zhou, K. Hu, T. Dong, Q. Wang, H. Huang, C. Lu, J. Kou, Z. Xu, Carbon ring and
molecular scaold co-doped g-C3N4 heterostructural nanosheets or highly
ecient hydrogen evolution, Mater. Res. Bull. 144 (2021), https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.materresbull.2021.111482.
[68] D. Zheng, C. Pang, Y. Liu, X. Wang, Shell-engineering o hollow g-C3N4
nanospheres via copolymerization or photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Chem.
Commun. (Camb. ) 51 (47) (2015) 9706–9709, https://doi.org/10.1039/
c5cc03143e.
[69] J. Zhang, G. Zhang, X. Chen, S. Lin, L. Mohlmann, G. Dolega, G. Lipner,
M. Antonietti, S. Blechert, X. Wang, Co-monomer control o carbon nitride
semiconductors to optimize hydrogen evolution with visible light, Angew. Chem.
Int Ed. Engl. 51 (13) (2012) 3183–3187, https://doi.org/10.1002/
anie.201106656.
[70] X. Wang, S. Blechert, M. Antonietti, Polymeric graphitic carbon nitride or
heterogeneous photocatalysis, ACS Catal. 2 (8) (2012) 1596–1606, https://doi.
org/10.1021/cs300240x.
[71] Y. Wang, X. Wang, M. Antonietti, Polymeric graphitic carbon nitride as a
heterogeneous organocatalyst: rom photochemistry to multipurpose catalysis to
sustainable chemistry, Angew. Chem. Int Ed. Engl. 51 (1) (2012) 68–89, https://
doi.org/10.1002/anie.201101182.
[72] J. Qin, S. Wang, H. Ren, Y. Hou, X. Wang, Photocatalytic reduction o CO2 by
graphitic carbon nitride polymers derived rom urea and barbituric acid, Appl.
Catal. B: Environ. 179 (2015) 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2015.05.005.
[73] Y. Li, S. Wang, W. Chang, L. Zhang, Z. Wu, R. Jin, Y. Xing, Co-monomer
engineering optimized electron delocalization system in carbon-bridging
modied g-C3N4 nanosheets with ecient visible-light photocatalytic
perormance, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 274 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2020.119116.
[74] J. Tan, N. Tian, Z. Li, J. Li, X. Yao, M. Vakili, Y. Lu, T. Zhang, Intrinsic deect
engineering in graphitic carbon nitride or photocatalytic environmental
purication: a review to ll existing knowledge gaps, Chem. Eng. J. 421 (2021),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127729.
[75] J. Liao, W. Cui, J. Li, J. Sheng, H. Wang, Xa Dong, P. Chen, G. Jiang, Z. Wang,
F. Dong, Nitrogen deect structure and NO+ intermediate promoted
photocatalytic NO removal on H2 treated g-C3N4, Chem. Eng. J. 379 (2020),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122282.
[76] Y. Xue, S. Lu, Z. Liang, Y. Guo, H. Cui, J. Tian, Porous graphitic carbon nitride
with nitrogen deects and cobalt-nitrogen (CoN) bonds or ecient broad
spectrum (visible and near-inrared) photocatalytic H2 production, J. Colloid
Interace Sci. 561 (2020) 719–729, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.049.
22
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
[77] X. Wang, Y. Zhao, M. Gao, N. Cao, K. Liu, C. Li, X. Zhao, Y. Ren, J. Feng, T. Wei,
Nitrogen-deective g-C3N4 with enhanced photocatalytic perormance
abrication by destructing C N C bond via H2O2, Sep. Puri. Technol. 264 (2021),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2021.118424.
[78] J. Zhang, J. Chen, Y. Wan, H. Liu, W. Chen, G. Wang, R. Wang, Deect engineering
in atomic-layered graphitic carbon nitride or greatly extended visible-light
photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, ACS Appl. Mater. Interaces 12 (12) (2020)
13805–13812, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b21115.
[79] F. Rao, J. Zhong, J. Li, Improved visible light responsive photocatalytic hydrogen
production over g-C3N4 with rich carbon vacancies, Ceram. Int. 48 (1) (2022)
1439–1445, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2021.09.130.
[80] Y. Zhang, J. Di, P. Ding, J. Zhao, K. Gu, X. Chen, C. Yan, S. Yin, J. Xia, H. Li,
Ultrathin g-C3N4 with enriched surace carbon vacancies enables highly ecient
photocatalytic nitrogen xation, J. Colloid Interace Sci. 553 (2019) 530–539,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.06.012.
[81] W. Wang, J.C. Yu, Z. Shen, D.K. Chan, T. Gu, g-C3N4 quantum dots: direct
synthesis, upconversion properties and photocatalytic application, Chem.
Commun. 50 (70) (2014) 10148–10150, https://doi.org/10.1039/c4cc02543a.
[82] T. Wang, C. Nie, Z. Ao, S. Wang, T. An, Recent progress in g-C3N4 quantum dots:
synthesis, properties and applications in photocatalytic degradation o organic
pollutants, J. Mater. Chem. A 8 (2) (2020) 485–502, https://doi.org/10.1039/
c9ta11368a.
[83] H. Wang, X. Yuan, H. Wang, X. Chen, Z. Wu, L. Jiang, W. Xiong, G. Zeng, Facile
synthesis o Sb2S3/ultrathin g-C3N4 sheets heterostructures embedded with g-
C3N4 quantum dots with enhanced NIR-light photocatalytic perormance, Appl.
Catal. B Environ. 193 (2016) 36–46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2016.03.075.
[84] Z.X. Zhou, Y.F. Shen, Y. Li, A.R. Liu, S.Q. Liu, Y.J. Zhang, Chemical cleavage o
layered carbon nitride with enhanced photoluminescent perormances and
photoconduction, Acs Nano 9 (12) (2015) 12480–12487, https://doi.org/
10.1021/acsnano.5b05924.
[85] Y. Zhan, Z. Liu, Q. Liu, D. Huang, Y. Wei, Y. Hu, X. Lian, C. Hu, A acile and one-
pot synthesis o fuorescent graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots or bio-
imaging applications, N. J. Chem. 41 (10) (2017) 3930–3938, https://doi.org/
10.1039/c7nj00058h.
[86] J. Zhou, Y. Yang, C.Y. Zhang, A low-temperature solid-phase method to
synthesize highly fuorescent carbon nitride dots with tunable emission, Chem.
Commun. 49 (77) (2013) 8605–8607, https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cc42266.
[87] H. Li, F.Q. Shao, H. Huang, J.J. Feng, A.J. Wang, Eco-riendly and rapid
microwave synthesis o green fuorescent graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots
or vitro bioimaging, Sens. Actuator B Chem. 226 (2016) 506–511, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.snb.2015.12.018.
[88] Y. Tang, Y. Su, N. Yang, L. Zhang, Y. Lv, Carbon nitride quantum dots: a novel
chemiluminescence system or selective detection o ree chlorine in water, Anal.
Chem. 86 (9) (2014) 4528–4535, https://doi.org/10.1021/ac5005162.
[89] Z. Mo, H. Xu, Z. Chen, X. She, Y. Song, J. Wu, P. Yan, L. Xu, Y. Lei, S. Yuan, H. Li,
Sel-assembled synthesis o deect-engineered graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes
or ecient conversion o solar energy, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 225 (2018)
154–161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.11.041.
[90] Z. Mo, X. Zhu, Z. Jiang, Y. Song, D. Liu, H. Li, X. Yang, Y. She, Y. Lei, S. Yuan,
H. Li, L. Song, Q. Yan, H. Xu, Porous nitrogen-rich g-C3N4 nanotubes or ecient
photocatalytic CO2 reduction, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 256 (2019), https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.117854.
[91] B. Liu, L. Ye, R. Wang, J. Yang, Y. Zhang, R. Guan, L. Tian, X. Chen, Phosphorus-
doped graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes with amino-rich surace or ecient
CO2 capture, enhanced photocatalytic activity, and product selectivity, ACS Appl.
Mater. Interaces 10 (4) (2018) 4001–4009, https://doi.org/10.1021/
acsami.7b17503.
[92] J. Wang, J. Cong, H. Xu, J. Wang, H. Liu, M. Liang, J. Gao, Q. Ni, J. Yao, Facile
gel-based morphological control o Ag/g-C3N4 porous nanobers or
photocatalytic hydrogen generation, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 5 (11) (2017)
10633–10639, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b02608.
[93] K. Zhang, L. Wang, X. Sheng, M. Ma, M.S. Jung, W. Kim, H. Lee, J.H. Park,
Tunable bandgap energy and promotion o H2O2 oxidation or overall water
splitting rom carbon nitride nanowire bundles, Adv. Energy Mater. 6 (11)
(2016), https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201502352.
[94] X. She, J. Wu, J. Zhong, H. Xu, Y. Yang, R. Vajtai, J. Lou, Y. Liu, D. Du, H. Li, P.
M. Ajayan, Oxygenated monolayer carbon nitride or excellent photocatalytic
hydrogen evolution and external quantum eciency, Nano Energy 27 (2016)
138–146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.06.042.
[95] Y. Li, R. Jin, Y. Xing, J. Li, S. Song, X. Liu, M. Li, R. Jin, Macroscopic oam-like
holey ultrathin g-C3N4nanosheets or drastic improvement o visible-light
photocatalytic activity, Adv. Energy Mater. 6 (24) (2016), https://doi.org/
10.1002/aenm.201601273.
[96] M.R. Gholipour, F. Béland, T.-O. Do, Post-calcined carbon nitride nanosheets as
an ecient photocatalyst or hydrogen production under visible light irradiation,
ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 5 (1) (2016) 213–220, https://doi.org/10.1021/
acssuschemeng.6b01282.
[97] A. Hatamie, P. Jalilian, E. Rezvani, A. Kakavand, A. Simchi, Fast and ultra-
sensitive voltammetric detection o lead ions by two-dimensional graphitic
carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanolayers as glassy carbon electrode modier,
Measurement 134 (2019) 679–687, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
measurement.2018.10.082.
[98] J. Xu, L. Zhang, R. Shi, Y. Zhu, Chemical exoliation o graphitic carbon nitride or
ecient heterogeneous photocatalysis, J. Mater. Chem. A 1 (46) (2013), https://
doi.org/10.1039/c3ta13188b.
J. Xing et al.
[99] D. Wang, X. Huang, Y. Huang, X. Yu, Y. Lei, X. Dong, Z. Su, Sel-assembly
synthesis o petal-like Cl-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets with tunable band structure
or enhanced photocatalytic activity, Colloids Sur. A: Physicochem. Eng. Asp.
611 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsura.2020.125780.
[100] C. Hu, Z.-T. Liu, P.-C. Yang, Y.-X. Ding, K.-Y.A. Lin, B.-S. Nguyen, Sel-assembly L-
cysteine based 2D g-C3N4 nanofakes or light-dependent degradation o
rhodamine B and tetracycline through photocatalysis, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng.
123 (2021) 219–227, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2021.04.064.
[101] R. Xu, J. Li, G. Sui, Y. Zhuang, D. Guo, Z. Luo, S. Liang, H. Yao, C. Wang, S. Chen,
Constructing supramolecular sel-assembled porous g-C3N4 nanosheets
containing thiophene-groups or excellent photocatalytic perormance under
visible light, Appl. Sur. Sci. 578 (2022), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apsusc.2021.152064.
[102] K. Wang, H. Wang, Q. Cheng, C. Gao, G. Wang, X. Wu, Molecular-unctionalized
engineering o porous carbon nitride nanosheets or wide-spectrum responsive
solar uel generation, J. Colloid Interace Sci. 607 (Pt 2) (2022) 1061–1070,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.034.
[103] Q. Liang, B. Shao, S. Tong, Z. Liu, L. Tang, Y. Liu, M. Cheng, Q. He, T. Wu, Y. Pan,
J. Huang, Z. Peng, Recent advances o melamine sel-assembled graphitic carbon
nitride-based materials: design, synthesis and application in energy and
environment, Chem. Eng. J. 405 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cej.2020.126951.
[104] W. Luo, X. Chen, Z. Wei, D. Liu, W. Yao, Y. Zhu, Three-dimensional network
structure assembled by g-C3N4 nanorods or improving visible-light
photocatalytic perormance, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 255 (2019), https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.117761.
[105] Z. Chen, S. Lu, Q. Wu, F. He, N. Zhao, C. He, C. Shi, Salt-assisted synthesis o 3D
open porous g-C3N4 decorated with cyano groups or photocatalytic hydrogen
evolution, Nanoscale 10 (6) (2018) 3008–3013, https://doi.org/10.1039/
c7nr05927b.
[106] X. Qian, X. Meng, J. Sun, L. Jiang, Y. Wang, J. Zhang, X. Hu, M. Shalom, J. Zhu,
Salt-assisted synthesis o 3D Porous g-C3N4 as a biunctional photo- and
electrocatalyst, ACS Appl. Mater. Interaces 11 (30) (2019) 27226–27232,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b08651.
[107] B. Shen, Z. Hong, Y. Chen, B. Lin, B. Gao, Template-ree synthesis o a novel
porous g-C3N4 with 3D hierarchical structure or enhanced photocatalytic H2
evolution, Mater. Lett. 118 (2014) 208–211, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
matlet.2013.12.070.
[108] X. Chen, R. Shi, Q. Chen, Z. Zhang, W. Jiang, Y. Zhu, T. Zhang, Three-dimensional
porous g-C3N4 or highly ecient photocatalytic overall water splitting, Nano
Energy 59 (2019) 644–650, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.03.010.
[109] S. Samanta, S. Martha, K. Parida, Facile synthesis o Au/g-C3N4nanocomposites:
an inorganic/organic hybrid plasmonic photocatalyst with enhanced hydrogen
gas evolution under visible-light irradiation, ChemCatChem (2014), https://doi.
org/10.1002/cctc.201300949.
[110] Y. Li, Y. Lu, Z. Ma, L. Dong, X. Jia, J. Zhang, Enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen
production o g-C3N4 by selective deposition o Pt cocatalyst, Nanomaterials 11
(12) (2021), https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11123266.
[111] C.H. Hak, L.C. Sim, K.H. Leong, P.F. Lim, Y.H. Chin, P. Saravanan, M/g-C3N4
(M=Ag, Au, and Pd) composite: synthesis via sunlight photodeposition and
application towards the degradation o bisphenol A, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int
25 (25) (2018) 25401–25412, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2632-8.
[112] J. Wang, L. Tang, G. Zeng, Y. Liu, Y. Zhou, Y. Deng, J. Wang, B. Peng, Plasmonic
Bi metal deposition and g-C3N4 coating on Bi2WO6 microspheres or ecient
visible-light photocatalysis, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 5 (1) (2016) 1062–1072,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b02351.
[113] X. Xia, L. Tang, H. Ji, L. Kang, Z. Wei, S. Lou, J. Xie, B. Tang, Synergistic
enhancement o photocatalytic H2 production by Ni decorated 2D bubble-like
carbon nitride, Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 46 (45) (2021) 23311–23321, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.01.121.
[114] M. Jourshabani, Z. Shariatinia, A. Badiei, Sulur-doped mesoporous carbon nitride
decorated with Cu particles or ecient photocatalytic degradation under visible-
light irradiation, J. Phys. Chem. C. 121 (35) (2017) 19239–19253, https://doi.
org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b05556.
[115] W. Xing, W. Tu, Z. Han, Y. Hu, Q. Meng, G. Chen, Template-induced high-
crystalline g-C3N4 nanosheets or enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution, ACS
Energy Lett. 3 (3) (2018) 514–519, https://doi.org/10.1021/
acsenergylett.7b01328.
[116] J. Fu, J. Yu, C. Jiang, B. Cheng, g-C3N4-based heterostructured photocatalysts,
Adv. Energy Mater. 8 (3) (2018), https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701503.
[117] Y. Li, M. Zhou, B. Cheng, Y. Shao, Recent advances in g-C3N4-based
heterojunction photocatalysts, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 56 (2020) 1–17, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2020.04.028.
[118] Y. Geng, D. Chen, N. Li, Q. Xu, H. Li, J. He, J. Lu, Z-Scheme 2D/2D α-Fe2O3/g-
C3N4 heterojunction or photocatalytic oxidation o nitric oxide, Appl. Catal. B:
Environ. 280 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.119409.
[119] X. Peng, C. Liu, Z. Zhao, F. Hu, H. Dai, Construction o a Z-scheme g-C3N4/
NBGO/BiVO4 heterostructure with visible-light driven photocatalytic
degradation o tetracycline: eciency, reaction pathway and mechanism, Catal.
Sci. Technol. 12 (4) (2022) 1339–1358, https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cy01850g.
[120] J. Fu, Q. Xu, J. Low, C. Jiang, J. Yu, Ultrathin 2D/2D WO3/g-C3N4 step-scheme
H2-production photocatalyst, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 243 (2019) 556–565,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.11.011.
[121] X. Du, S. Song, Y. Wang, W. Jin, T. Ding, Y. Tian, X. Li, Facile one-pot synthesis o
deect-engineered step-scheme WO3/g-C3N4 heterojunctions or ecient
23
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
photocatalytic hydrogen production, Catal. Sci. Technol. 11 (8) (2021)
2734–2744, https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cy02478c.
[122] V. Van Pham, D.Q. Mai, D.P. Bui, T. Van Man, B. Zhu, L. Zhang, J. Sangkaworn,
J. Tantirungrotechai, V. Reutrakul, T.M. Cao, Emerging 2D/0D g-C3N4/SnO2 S-
scheme photocatalyst: New generation architectural structure o heterojunctions
toward visible-light-driven NO degradation, Environ. Pollut. 286 (2021), 117510,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117510.
[123] Q. Xu, D. Ma, S. Yang, Z. Tian, B. Cheng, J. Fan, Novel g-C3N4/g-C3N4 S-scheme
isotype heterojunction or improved photocatalytic hydrogen generation, Appl.
Sur. Sci. 495 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143555.
[124] D. Ren, W. Zhang, Y. Ding, R. Shen, Z. Jiang, X. Lu, X. Li, In situ abrication o
robust cocatalyst-ree CdS/g-C3N4 2D–2D step-scheme heterojunctions or highly
active H2 evolution, Sol. RRL 4 (8) (2019), https://doi.org/10.1002/
solr.201900423.
[125] Y. Yang, D. Zhang, J. Fan, Y. Liao, Q. Xiang, Construction o an ultrathin s-scheme
heterojunction based on ew-layer g-C3N4 and monolayer Ti3C2Tx MXene or
photocatalytic CO2 reduction, Sol. RRL 5 (2) (2020), https://doi.org/10.1002/
solr.202000351.
[126] Q. Liang, J. Jin, C. Liu, S. Xu, Z. Li, Constructing a novel p-n heterojunction
photocatalyst LaFeO3/g-C3N4 with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic
activity, J. Alloy. Compd. 709 (2017) 542–548, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jallcom.2017.03.190.
[127] Z. You, C. Wu, Q. Shen, Y. Yu, H. Chen, Y. Su, H. Wang, C. Wu, F. Zhang, H. Yang,
A novel ecient g-C3N4@BiOI p-n heterojunction photocatalyst constructed
through the assembly o g-C3N4 nanoparticles, Dalton Trans. 47 (21) (2018)
7353–7361, https://doi.org/10.1039/c8dt01322e.
[128] Z. Chen, S. Zhang, Y. Liu, N.S. Alharbi, S.O. Rabah, S. Wang, X. Wang, Synthesis
and abrication o g-C3N4-based materials and their application in elimination o
pollutants, Sci. Total Environ. 731 (2020), 139054, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
scitotenv.2020.139054.
[129] Q. Wang, L. Zhang, Y. Guo, M. Shen, M. Wang, B. Li, J. Shi, Multiunctional 2D
porous g-C3N4 nanosheets hybridized with 3D hierarchical TiO2 microfowers or
selective dye adsorption, antibiotic degradation and CO2 reduction, Chem. Eng. J.
396 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.125347.
[130] J.-Y. Zhang, J.-Y. Mei, S.-S. Yi, X.-X. Guan, Constructing o Z-scheme 3D g-C3N4-
ZnO@graphene aerogel heterojunctions or high-ecient adsorption and
photodegradation o organic pollutants, Appl. Sur. Sci. 492 (2019) 808–817,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.06.261.
[131] J. Rashid, F. Saleemi, B. Akram, L. Wang, N. Hussain, M. Xu, Facile synthesis o g-
C3N4/MoO3 nanohybrid or ecient removal o aqueous dicloenac sodium,
Nanomaterials 11 (6) (2021), https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061564.
[132] H. Yao, X. Wang, J. Gao, C. Gao, R. Zhao, X. Zhai, Y. Wu, C. Hao, J. Yang, S. Mei,
H. Qiu, Hydrothermal synthesis o fower-like Cu2MoS4/g-C3N4 composite and
its adsorption perormances or Rhodamine B, Mater. Chem. Phys. 223 (2019)
648–658, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2018.11.037.
[133] K. Li, J. Chen, Y. Ao, P. Wang, Preparation o a ternary g-C3N4-CdS/Bi4O5I2
composite photocatalysts with two charge transer pathways or ecient
degradation o acetaminophen under visible light irradiation, Sep. Puri. Technol.
259 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2020.118177.
[134] D. Li, J. Huang, R. Li, P. Chen, D. Chen, M. Cai, H. Liu, Y. Feng, W. Lv, G. Liu,
Synthesis o a carbon dots modied g-C3N4/SnO2 Z-scheme photocatalyst with
superior photocatalytic activity or PPCPs degradation under visible light
irradiation, J. Hazard Mater. 401 (2021), 123257, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jhazmat.2020.123257.
[135] J. Li, X. Yu, Y. Zhu, X. Fu, Y. Zhang, 3D–2D-3D BiOI/porous g-C3N4/graphene
hydrogel composite photocatalyst with synergy o adsorption-photocatalysis in
static and fow systems, J. Alloy. Compd. 850 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jallcom.2020.156778.
[136] J. Bi, X. Huang, J. Wang, Q. Tao, T. Wang, H. Hao, Titanate or water
remediation: synthesis, application, mechanism and optimization, J. Mater.
Chem. A 8 (29) (2020) 14415–14440, https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ta05368.
[137] T.O. Ajiboye, O.A. Oyewo, D.C. Onwudiwe, Conventional and Current Methods o
Toxic Metals Removal rom Water Using g-C3N4-Based Materials, J. Inorg.
Organomet. Polym. Mater. 31 (4) (2020) 1419–1442, https://doi.org/10.1007/
s10904-020-01803-3.
[138] R. Agha Beygli, N. Mohaghegh, E. Rahimi, Metal ion adsorption rom wastewater
by g-C3N4 modied with hydroxyapatite: a case study rom Sarcheshmeh Acid
Mine Drainage, Res. Chem. Intermed. 45 (4) (2019) 2255–2268, https://doi.org/
10.1007/s11164-018-03733-9.
[139] Y. Huang, H. Zheng, H. Li, Z. Zhang, C. zhao, Q. Gou, Y. Liu, Highly eective and
selective adsorption o thorium(IV) rom aqueous solution using mesoporous
graphite carbon nitride prepared by sol–gel template method, Chem. Eng. J. 410
(2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.128321.
[140] K.S. Al-Namshah, R.M. Mohamed, Development o mesoporous Bi2WO6/g-C3N4
heterojunctions via sot- and hard-template-assisted procedures or accelerated
and reinorced photocatalytic reduction o mercuric cations under vis light
irradiation, Ceram. Int. 47 (4) (2021) 5003–5012, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ceramint.2020.10.076.
[141] C. Chen, J. Xu, Z. Yang, L. Zhang, C. Cao, Z. Xu, J. Liu, One-pot synthesis o
ternary zero-valent iron/phosphotungstic acid/g-C3N4 composite and its high
perormance or removal o arsenic(V) rom water, Appl. Sur. Sci. 425 (2017)
423–431, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.07.049.
[142] C. Tang, L. Ling, W.-X. Zhang, Pb(II) deposition-reduction-growth onto iron
nanoparticles induced by graphitic carbon nitride, Chem. Eng. J. 387 (2020),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.124088.
J. Xing et al.
[143] M. Qiu, Z. Liu, S. Wang, B. Hu, The photocatalytic reduction o U(VI) into U(IV)
by ZIF-8/g-C3N4 composites at visible light, Environ. Res. 196 (2021), 110349,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110349.
[144] B. Ou, J. Wang, Y. Wu, S. Zhao, Z. Wang, Ecient removal o Cr (VI) by magnetic
and recyclable calcined CoFe-LDH/g-C3N4 via the synergy o adsorption and
photocatalysis under visible light, Chem. Eng. J. 380 (2020), https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.cej.2019.122600.
[145] F. Zhao, Y. Liu, S.B. Hammouda, B. Doshi, N. Guijarro, X. Min, C.-J. Tang,
M. Sillanpää, K. Sivula, S. Wang, MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 or enhanced visible-light-
driven photocatalysis toward simultaneous reduction o Cr(VI) and oxidation o
bisphenol A in aqueous media, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 272 (2020), https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.119033.
[146] Y. Yu, K. Wu, W. Xu, D. Chen, J. Fang, X. Zhu, J. Sun, Y. Liang, X. Hu, R. Li,
Z. Fang, Adsorption-photocatalysis synergistic removal o contaminants under
antibiotic and Cr(VI) coexistence environment using non-metal g-C3N4 based
nanomaterial obtained by supramolecular sel-assembly method, J. Hazard Mater.
404(Pt A) ( (2021), 124171, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124171.
[147] Y. Wang, L. Rao, P. Wang, Z. Shi, L. Zhang, Photocatalytic activity o N-TiO2/O-
doped N vacancy g-C3N4 and the intermediates toxicity evaluation under
tetracycline hydrochloride and Cr(VI) coexistence environment, Appl. Catal. B
Environ. 262 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118308.
[148] E. Liu, Y. Du, X. Bai, J. Fan, X. Hu, Synergistic improvement o Cr(VI) reduction
and RhB degradation using RP/g-C3N4 photocatalyst under visible light
irradiation, Arab. J. Chem. 13 (2) (2020) 3836–3848, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
arabjc.2019.02.001.
[149] Y. Zou, X. Wang, Y. Ai, Y. Liu, Y. Ji, H. Wang, T. Hayat, A. Alsaedi, W. Hu,
X. Wang, β-Cyclodextrin modied graphitic carbon nitride or the removal o
pollutants rom aqueous solution: experimental and theoretical calculation study,
J. Mater. Chem. A 4 (37) (2016) 14170–14179, https://doi.org/10.1039/
c6ta05958a.
[150] S. Yang, P. Zong, J. Hu, G. Sheng, Q. Wang, X. Wang, Fabrication o
β-cyclodextrin conjugated magnetic HNT/iron oxide composite or high-ecient
decontamination o U(VI, Chem. Eng. J. 214 (2013) 376–385, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.cej.2012.10.030.
[151] Q. Tao, J. Bi, X. Huang, R. Wei, T. Wang, Y. Zhou, H. Hao, Fabrication,
application, optimization and working mechanism o Fe2O3 and its composites
or contaminants elimination rom wastewater, Chemosphere 263 (2021),
127889, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127889.
[152] H. Wang, L. Ma, K. Cao, J. Geng, J. Liu, Q. Song, X. Yang, S. Li, Selective solid-
phase extraction o uranium by salicylideneimine-unctionalized hydrothermal
carbon, J. Hazard Mater 229–230 (2012) 321–330, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jhazmat.2012.06.004.
[153] M. Raaja Rajeshwari, S. Kokilavani, S. Sudheer Khan, Recent developments in
architecturing the g-C3N4 based nanostructured photocatalysts: Synthesis,
modications and applications in water treatment, Chemosphere 291 (Pt 1)
(2022), 132735, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132735.
[154] S. Zhang, J. Li, M. Zeng, G. Zhao, J. Xu, W. Hu, X. Wang, In situ synthesis o
water-soluble magnetic graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst and its synergistic
catalytic perormance, ACS Appl. Mater. Interaces 5 (23) (2013) 12735–12743,
https://doi.org/10.1021/am404123z.
[155] G. Mamba, A.K. Mishra, Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanocomposites: a
new and exciting generation o visible light driven photocatalysts or
environmental pollution remediation, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 198 (2016)
347–377, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.05.052.
[156] Y. Liu, S. Wu, J. Liu, S. Xie, Y. Liu, Synthesis o g-C3N4/TiO2 nanostructures or
enhanced photocatalytic reduction o U(vi) in water, RSC Adv. 11 (8) (2021)
4810–4817, https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ra10694a.
[157] S. Gawande, S.R. Thakare, Ternary polymer composite o graphene, carbon
nitride, and poly(3–hexylthiophene): an ecient photocatalyst, ChemCatChem 4
(11) (2012) 1759–1763, https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201200277.
[158] L. Ge, C. Han, J. Liu, In situ synthesis and enhanced visible light photocatalytic
activities o novel PANI–g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts, J. Mater. Chem. 22
(23) (2012), https://doi.org/10.1039/c2jm16241e.
[159] Y. Cui, J. Huang, X. Fu, X. Wang, Metal-ree photocatalytic degradation o 4-
chlorophenol in water by mesoporous carbon nitride semiconductors, Catal. Sci.
Technol. 2 (7) (2012), https://doi.org/10.1039/c2cy20036h.
[160] N. Cheng, J. Tian, Q. Liu, C. Ge, A.H. Qusti, A.M. Asiri, A.O. Al-Youbi, X. Sun, Au-
nanoparticle-loaded graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets: green photocatalytic
synthesis and application toward the degradation o organic pollutants, ACS Appl.
Mater. Interaces 5 (15) (2013) 6815–6819, https://doi.org/10.1021/
am401802r.
[161] H. Xu, J. Yan, Y. Xu, Y. Song, H. Li, J. Xia, C. Huang, H. Wan, Novel visible-light-
driven AgX/graphite-like C3N4 (X = Br, I) hybrid materials with synergistic
photocatalytic activity, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 129 (2013) 182–193, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2012.08.015.
[162] X.-j Wang, W.-y Yang, F.-t Li, Y.-b Xue, R.-h Liu, Y.-j Hao, In situ microwave-
assisted synthesis o porous N-TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions with enhanced
visible-light photocatalytic properties, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 52 (48) (2013)
17140–17150, https://doi.org/10.1021/ie402820v.
[163] T. Li, L. Zhao, Y. He, J. Cai, M. Luo, J. Lin, Synthesis o g-C3N4/SmVO4 composite
photocatalyst with improved visible light photocatalytic activities in RhB
degradation, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 129 (2013) 255–263, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apcatb.2012.09.031.
[164] J. Di, J. Xia, S. Yin, H. Xu, L. Xu, Y. Xu, M. He, H. Li, Preparation o sphere-like g-
C3N4/BiOI photocatalysts via a reactable ionic liquid or visible-light-driven
24
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
photocatalytic degradation o pollutants, J. Mater. Chem. A 2 (15) (2014),
https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ta14617k.
[165] K. Dai, L. Lu, C. Liang, Q. Liu, G. Zhu, Heterojunction o acet coupled g-C3N4/
surace-fuorinated TiO2 nanosheets or organic pollutants degradation under
visible LED light irradiation, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 156–157 (2014) 331–340,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2014.03.039.
[166] Y. Yang, W. Guo, Y. Guo, Y. Zhao, X. Yuan, Y. Guo, Fabrication o Z-scheme
plasmonic photocatalyst Ag@AgBr/g-C(3)N(4) with enhanced visible-light
photocatalytic activity, J. Hazard Mater. 271 (2014) 150–159, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.02.023.
[167] Y. Yao, F. Lu, Y. Zhu, F. Wei, X. Liu, C. Lian, S. Wang, Magnetic core-shell
CuFe2O4@C3N4 hybrids or visible light photocatalysis o Orange II, J. Hazard
Mater. 297 (2015) 224–233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.04.046.
[168] Z. Tong, D. Yang, T. Xiao, Y. Tian, Z. Jiang, Biomimetic abrication o g-C3N4/
TiO2 nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic activity toward organic pollutant
degradation, Chem. Eng. J. 260 (2015) 117–125, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cej.2014.08.072.
[169] X. Yang, F. Qian, G. Zou, M. Li, J. Lu, Y. Li, M. Bao, Facile abrication o acidied
g-C3N4/g-C3N4 hybrids with enhanced photocatalysis perormance under visible
light irradiation, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 193 (2016) 22–35, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.03.060.
[170] Y. Hong, C. Li, G. Zhang, Y. Meng, B. Yin, Y. Zhao, W. Shi, Ecient and stable
Nb2O5 modied g-C3N4 photocatalyst or removal o antibiotic pollutant, Chem.
Eng. J. 299 (2016) 74–84, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2016.04.092.
[171] Y. Hong, Y. Jiang, C. Li, W. Fan, X. Yan, M. Yan, W. Shi, In-situ synthesis o direct
solid-state Z-scheme V2O5/g-C3N4 heterojunctions with enhanced visible light
eciency in photocatalytic degradation o pollutants, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 180
(2016) 663–673, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.06.057.
[172] Z. Wan, G. Zhang, X. Wu, S. Yin, Novel visible-light-driven Z-scheme Bi12GeO20/
g-C3N4 photocatalyst: Oxygen-induced pathway o organic pollutants
degradation and proton assisted electron transer mechanism o Cr(VI) reduction,
Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 207 (2017) 17–26, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2017.02.014.
[173] P. Qiu, C. Xu, H. Chen, F. Jiang, X. Wang, R. Lu, X. Zhang, One step synthesis o
oxygen doped porous graphitic carbon nitride with remarkable improvement o
photo-oxidation activity: Role o oxygen on visible light photocatalytic activity,
Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 206 (2017) 319–327, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apcatb.2017.01.058.
[174] Y. Deng, L. Tang, G. Zeng, Z. Zhu, M. Yan, Y. Zhou, J. Wang, Y. Liu, J. Wang,
Insight into highly ecient simultaneous photocatalytic removal o Cr(VI) and
2,4-diclorophenol under visible light irradiation by phosphorus doped porous
ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets rom aqueous media: Perormance and reaction
mechanism, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 203 (2017) 343–354, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.10.046.
[175] L. Jiang, X. Yuan, G. Zeng, Z. Wu, J. Liang, X. Chen, L. Leng, H. Wang, H. Wang,
Metal-ree ecient photocatalyst or stable visible-light photocatalytic
degradation o reractory pollutant, Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 221 (2018) 715–725,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.09.059.
[176] L. Jiang, X. Yuan, G. Zeng, J. Liang, X. Chen, H. Yu, H. Wang, Z. Wu, J. Zhang,
T. Xiong, In-situ synthesis o direct solid-state dual Z-scheme WO3/g-C3N4/
Bi2O3 photocatalyst or the degradation o reractory pollutant, Appl. Catal. B
Environ. 227 (2018) 376–385, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.01.042.
[177] X.-H. Jiang, Q.-J. Xing, X.-B. Luo, F. Li, J.-P. Zou, S.-S. Liu, X. Li, X.-K. Wang,
Simultaneous photoreduction o Uranium(VI) and photooxidation o Arsenic(III)
in aqueous solution over g-C3N4/TiO2 heterostructured catalysts under
simulated sunlight irradiation, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 228 (2018) 29–38, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.01.062.
[178] C. Zhou, C. Lai, D. Huang, G. Zeng, C. Zhang, M. Cheng, L. Hu, J. Wan, W. Xiong,
M. Wen, X. Wen, L. Qin, Highly porous carbon nitride by supramolecular
preassembly o monomers or photocatalytic removal o sulamethazine under
visible light driven, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 220 (2018) 202–210, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.08.055.
[179] F. Chen, Q. Yang, Y. Wang, F. Yao, Y. Ma, X. Huang, X. Li, D. Wang, G. Zeng,
H. Yu, Ecient construction o bismuth vanadate-based Z-scheme photocatalyst
or simultaneous Cr(VI) reduction and ciprofoxacin oxidation under visible light:
Kinetics, degradation pathways and mechanism, Chem. Eng. J. 348 (2018)
157–170, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.04.170.
[180] J. Cai, J. Huang, S. Wang, J. Iocozzia, Z. Sun, J. Sun, Y. Yang, Y. Lai, Z. Lin,
Crating mussel-inspired metal nanoparticle-decorated ultrathin graphitic carbon
nitride or the degradation o chemical pollutants and production o chemical
resources, Adv. Mater. 31 (15) (2019), e1806314, https://doi.org/10.1002/
adma.201806314.
[181] W. Liu, Y. Li, F. Liu, W. Jiang, D. Zhang, J. Liang, Visible-light-driven
photocatalytic degradation o dicloenac by carbon quantum dots modied
porous g-C3N4: mechanisms, degradation pathway and DFT calculation, Water
Res 151 (2019) 8–19, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.084.
[182] F. Guo, M. Li, H. Ren, X. Huang, K. Shu, W. Shi, C. Lu, Facile bottom-up
preparation o Cl-doped porous g-C3N4 nanosheets or enhanced photocatalytic
degradation o tetracycline under visible light, Sep. Puri. Technol. 228 (2019),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2019.115770.
[183] X.-H. Yi, S.-Q. Ma, X.-D. Du, C. Zhao, H. Fu, P. Wang, C.-C. Wang, The acile
abrication o 2D/3D Z-scheme g-C3N4/UiO-66 heterojunction with enhanced
photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction perormance under white light, Chem. Eng. J. 375
(2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.121944.
[184] K. Zhang, M. Zhou, C. Yu, K. Yang, X. Li, W. Dai, J. Guan, Q. Shu, W. Huang,
Construction o S-scheme g-C3N4/ZrO2 heterostructures or enhancing
J. Xing et al.
photocatalytic disposals o pollutants and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution,
Dyes Pigments 180 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2020.108525.
[185] Q. Xie, W. He, S. Liu, C. Li, J. Zhang, P.K. Wong, Biunctional S-scheme g-C3N4/
Bi/BiVO4 hybrid photocatalysts toward articial carbon cycling, Chin. J. Catal.
41 (1) (2020) 140–153, https://doi.org/10.1016/s1872-2067(19)63481-9.
[186] Q. Li, W. Zhao, Z. Zhai, K. Ren, T. Wang, H. Guan, H. Shi, 2D/2D Bi2MoO6/g-
C3N4 S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light activity
by Au loading, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 56 (2020) 216–226, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jmst.2020.03.038.
[187] T. Pan, D. Chen, W. Xu, J. Fang, S. Wu, Z. Liu, K. Wu, Z. Fang, Anionic
polyacrylamide-assisted construction o thin 2D–2D WO3/g-C3N4 Step-scheme
heterojunction or enhanced tetracycline degradation under visible light
irradiation, J. Hazard Mater. 393 (2020), 122366, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jhazmat.2020.122366.
[188] X. Yuan, S. Qu, X. Huang, X. Xue, C. Yuan, S. Wang, L. Wei, P. Cai, Design o core-
shelled g-C3N4@ZIF-8 photocatalyst with enhanced tetracycline adsorption or
boosting photocatalytic degradation, Chem. Eng. J. 416 (2021), https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.cej.2021.129148.
25
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 10 (2022) 108782
[189] X. Wang, J. Meng, X. Zhang, Y. Liu, M. Ren, Y. Yang, Y. Guo, Controllable
approach to carbon-decient and oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride: robust
photocatalyst against recalcitrant organic pollutants and the mechanism insight,
Adv. Funct. Mater. 31 (20) (2021), https://doi.org/10.1002/adm.202010763.
[190] C. Zhou, E. Almatra, X. Tang, B. Shao, W. Xia, B. Song, W. Xiong, W. Wang,
H. Guo, S. Chen, G. Zeng, Investigation on the structure-perormance o phthalic
acid carboxyl position and carbon nitride towards ecient photocatalytic
degradation o organic pollutants, Sep. Puri. Technol. 286 (2022), https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.120464.
[191] J. Bao, W. Bai, M. Wu, W. Gong, Y. Yu, K. Zheng, L. Liu, Template-mediated
copper doped porous g-C3N4 or ecient photodegradation o antibiotic
contaminants, Chemosphere 293 (2022), 133607, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
chemosphere.2022.133607.
[192] Q. Shen, L. Wei, R. Bibi, K. Wang, D. Hao, J. Zhou, N. Li, Boosting photocatalytic
degradation o tetracycline under visible light over hierarchical carbon nitride
microrods with carbon vacancies, J. Hazard Mater. 413 (2021), 125376, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125376.