Preparation of graphitic carbon nitride by electrodeposition

The CNx thin film was deposited on Si(100) substrate from a saturated acetone solution of cyanuric trichloride and melamine (cyanuric trichloride/melamine=1︰1.5) at room temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the diffraction peaks in the pattern coincided well with those of graphite-like carbon nitride calculated in the literature. The lattice constants (a=4.79 A, c=6.90 A) for g-C3N4 matched with those of ab initio calculations (a=4.74 A, c=6.72 A) quite well. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicated that the elements in the deposited films were mostly of C and N (N/C=0.75), and N (400.00 eV) bonded with C (287.72 eV) in the form of six-member C3N3 ring. The peaks at 800 cm-1, 1310 cm-1 and 1610 cm-1 in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum indicated that triazine ring existed in the product. These results demonstrated that crystalline g-C3N4 was obtained in the CNx film.