Interfacial charge modulation: carbon quantum dot implanted carbon nitride double-deck nanoframes for robust visible-light photocatalytic tetracycline degradation

Abstract

Steering charge kinetics at the interface is essential to improve the photocatalytic performance of two-dimensional (2D) material-based heterostructures. Herein, we developed a novel strategy–simultaneously building two kinds of heterojunctions– to modulate interfacial charge kinetics in polymeric carbon nitride (CN) for improving the photocatalytic activity. Using a simple one-step thermal condensation of carbon quantum dot (CQD)-contained supramolecular precursors formed in water, the controllable CQD embedded CN nanoframes possessed two kinds of heterogeneous interfaces within seamlessly stitched micro-area two-dimensional in-plane and out-of-plane domains. These two kinds of heterojunctions can effectively enhance its intrinsic driving force to accelerate the separation and transfer of charge along different directions. Furthermore, the hollow double-deck porous CN-CQD nanoframes with a high surface area (296.74 m² g⁻¹) endowed more exposed active sites. The remarkable visible-light photocatalytic activity of hollow porous CN-CQD nanoframes was demonstrated by degrading tetracycline (TC) and rhodamine (RhB) as the models, whose robust degradation rate constant is approximately 11 and 29 times higher than that of pristine CN, respectively. This work provides a novel strategy for the interfacial design of the heterophase junction with atomic precision.