Carbon nitride nanosheets decorated with WO3 nanorods: Ultrasonic-assisted facile synthesis and catalytic application in the green manufacture of dialdehydes

•Ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride nanosheets.•g-C3N4 nanosheets contribute to the formation of WO3 nanorods.•BET surface area of g-C3N4 increased by four times than the pristine one.•Excellent catalytic activities for the oxidative cleavage of cyclohexene oxide.•Being recycled for five times without obvious loss of catalytic activity.

Carbon nitride nanosheets decorated with WO3 nanorods (WO3/g-C3N4) were fabricated via ultrasonic-assisted dispersion and conventional incipient wetness impregnation method. It is found that ultrasonic promoted the formation of g-C3N4 nanosheets efficiently. The promotion effect in the structural evolution and catalytic performance for the rod-like structure of WO3 caused by g-C3N4 nanosheets were well studied. For the first time, the novel WO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were used as efficient catalysts in the green process of dialdehydes from the selective oxidation of cycloalkene oxides using H2O2 as a clean oxidant, owing to the high dispersion of active sites and the strong interaction between cycloalkene oxides and the NH or NH2 groups on the surface of g-C3N4 sheets. Here, C3N4 nanosheets are considered as the catalyst support and co-catalyst as well. The novel nanocomposites are very stable and can be reused for five times without obvious loss of catalytic activity.

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