One-pot synthesis of copper-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet by heating Cu–melamine supramolecular network and its enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalysis

•Cu-doped g-C3N4 (Cu-g-C3N4) with nanosheet morphology was prepared.•Cu-g-C3N4 showed strong optical absorption in the visible-light region.•Cu-g-C3N4 exhibits enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity.

Here we report a novel synthetic pathway for preparation of Cu-doped g-C3N4 (Cu-g-C3N4) with nanosheet morphology by using a two dimensional Cu–melamine supramolecular network as both sacrificial template and precursor. The specific surface area of Cu-g-C3N4 is 40.86 m2 g−1, which is more than 7 times larger than that of pure g-C3N4. Cu-g-C3N4 showed strong optical absorption in the visible-light region and expanded the absorption to the near-infrared region. The uniform nanosheet morphology, higher surface area and strong visible-light absorption have enabled Cu-g-C3N4 exhibiting enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for the photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB). The results indicate that metal–melamine supramolecular network can be promising precursors for the one step preparation of efficient metal-doped g-C3N4 photocatalysts.

Graphical abstractCu-doped g-C3N4 (Cu-g-C3N4) with nanosheet morphology was fabricated via a simple one step preparation by using a two dimensional Cu–melamine supra-molecular network as both sacrificial template and precursor.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide