Presentation_1_Compressible and Recyclable Monolithic g-C3N4/Melamine Sponge: A Facile Ultrasonic-Coating Approach and Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity.pdf

Powdery photocatalysts seriously restrict their practical application due to the difficult recycle and low photocatalytic activity. In this work, a monolithic g-C₃N₄/melamine sponge (g-C₃N₄/MS) was successfully fabricated by a cost-effective ultrasonic-coating route, which is easy to achieve the uniform dispersion and firm loading of g-C₃N₄ on MS skeleton. The monolithic g-C₃N₄/MS entirely inherits the porous structure of MS and results in a larger specific surface area (SSA) than its powdery counterpart. Benefit from this monolithic structure, g-C₃N₄/MS gains more exposed active sites, enhanced visible-light absorption and separation of photogenerated carriers, thus achieving noticeable photocatalytic activity on nitric oxide (NO) removal and CO₂ reduction. Specifically, NO removal ratio is as high as 78.6% which is 4.5 times higher than that of the powdery g-C₃N₄, and yield rate of CO and CH₄ attains 7.48 and 3.93 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. Importantly, the features of low-density, high porosity, good elasticity, and firmness, not only endow g-C₃N₄/MS with flexibility in various environmental applications, but also make it easy to recycle and stable for long-time application. Our work provides a feasible approach to fabricate novel monolithic photocatalysts with large-scale production and application.