Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) is a metal-free photoactive material which has gained significant interest in the advancement of electronic and optical devices because of its attractive optoelectronic properties, such as tuneable band gap, and suitable chemical and thermal stability. This material has been utilized in a range of applications including photocatalysis, biosensing and photovoltaics. Bulk g-C₃N₄ (B-g-C₃N₄) has been shown to exhibit low photo-efficiency due to its low specific surface area and high rate of recombination of photo-generated charges; thus, there is a need for its exfoliation. Also, the type of exfoliation method utilized is crucial. In this work, two exfoliation methods of g-C₃N₄, namely, liquid and thermal etching exfoliation, were investigated. Both methods successfully produced g-C₃N₄ nanosheets, but those synthesized by liquid exfoliation (CNNS-LE) had a much larger specific surface area of 41.68 m² g⁻¹ than those prepared by thermal exfoliation (CNNS-TE) (14.76 m² g⁻¹) or the parent B-g-C₃N₄ (3.22 m² g⁻¹). The band gap energies of B-g-C₃N₄, CNNS-LE and CNNS-TE were found to be 2.71, 2.59 and 1.89 eV, respectively. Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets prepared by thermal exfoliation (CNNS-TE) were found to be 2.5 times more effective in the photo-degradation of Rhodamine B than B-g-C₃N₄ and CNNS-LE. This is attributed to the positive effect of their porous structure, which gives rise to effective separation of charges, and their extended light absorption properties. Thus, thermal treatment introduces structural defects and electronic modifications that result in an enhanced photocatalytic performance. Consequently, thermal etching is effective in exfoliation of B-g-C₃N₄ to form a material suitable for photo-driven applications.

石墨碳氮化物（gC ₃ N ₄）是一种无金属的光敏材料，由于其诱人的光电特性（如可调节的带隙）以及合适的化学和热稳定性，在电子和光学器件的发展中引起了人们的极大兴趣。这种材料已被用于包括光催化，生物传感和光伏技术在内的一系列应用中。块状gC ₃ N ₄（BgC ₃ N ₄）由于其低的比表面积和高的光生电荷复合率而显示出低的光效率; 因此，需要对其进行剥离。同样，剥落方法的类型也很关键。在这项工作中，研究了gC ₃ N _4的两种剥离方法，即液体剥离法和热蚀刻剥离法。两种方法均成功制得了gC ₃ N ₄纳米片，但通过液体剥落法（CNNS-LE）合成的纳米片材的比表面积比通过热剥落法（CNNS-TE）（14.76 m ²）制备的大得多，为41.68 m ²  g ^-1。  g ^-1）或母体BgC ₃N ₄（3.22 m ²  g ^-1）。发现BgC ₃ N ₄，CNNS-LE和CNNS-TE的带隙能分别为2.71、2.59和1.89 eV。发现通过热剥落法（CNNS-TE）制备的石墨化氮化碳纳米片在罗丹明B的光降解方面比BgC ₃ N _4高2.5倍和CNNS-LE。这归因于它们的多孔结构的积极作用，这导致电荷的有效分离以及其扩展的光吸收特性。因此，热处理会引入结构缺陷和电子修饰，从而导致增强的光催化性能。因此，热蚀刻有效地剥落了BgC ₃ N ₄以形成适合于光驱动应用的材料。