Fast and facile preparation of metal-doped g-C3N4 composites for catalytic synthesis of dimethyl carbonate

• Metal-doped g-C3N4 samples were prepared via a simple mixing and calcination.
• No hard template or etching was required in the synthesis of doped g-C3N4.
• A maximum DMC yield of 83.3% was obtained over Zn-g-C3N4 material.
• Doped g-C3N4 showed superior activity to other mesoporous carbon nitrides.

Zn-doped g-C3N4 materials (Zn-g-C3N4) were prepared by a simple mixing and calcination, using dicyandiamide as a precursor and zinc halide as a dopant. The characterization results of CO2 temperature-programmed desorption and elemental analysis revealed that the introduction of Zn species enhanced the overall basic quantity of g-C3N4. In the transesterification of ethylene carbonate with CH3OH to dimethyl carbonate (DMC), the Zn-g-C3N4 catalysts showed superior catalytic activity to the pure g-C3N4, and the highest DMC yield reached 83.3%, along with stable catalytic reusability and reproducibility. Furthermore, other transition-metal halides (including FeCl3, CuCl2, NiCl2, etc.) could be utilized as dopants for g-C3N4, and the obtained doped g-C3N4 materials also showed high EC conversions above 70%. The upgradation of basic quantity of g-C3N4 was attributed to the reaction between metal halide and the active amine species of g-C3N4. Despite their low surface areas, under the same catalytic conditions, Zn-g-C3N4 catalysts demonstrated remarkably higher catalytic activity than other mesoporous carbon nitride materials.

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