Investigating the Dispersion Behavior in Solvents, Biocompatibility, and Use as Support for Highly Efficient Metal Catalysts of Exfoliated Graphitic Carbon Nitride

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• 作者：M. Ay谩n-Varela ; S. Villar-Rodil ; J. I. Paredes ; J. M. Munuera ; A. Pag谩n ; A. A. Lozano-P茅rez ; J. L. Cenis ; A. Mart铆nez-Alonso ; J. M. D. Tasc贸n
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：November 4, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：7
• 期：43
• 页码：24032-24045
• 全文大小：647K
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

The liquid-phase exfoliation of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) to afford colloidal dispersions of two-dimensional flakes constitutes an attractive route to facilitate the processing and implementation of this novel material toward different technological applications, but quantitative knowledge about its dispersibility in solvents is lacking. Here, we investigate the dispersion behavior of exfoliated g-C₃N₄ in a wide range of solvents and evaluate the obtained results on the basis of solvent surface energy and Hildebrand/Hansen solubility parameters. Estimates of the three Hansen parameters for exfoliated g-C₃N₄ from the experimentally derived data yielded 未_D 鈮?17.8 MPa^1/2, 未_P 鈮?10.8 MPa^1/2, and 未_H 鈮?15.4 MPa^1/2. The relatively high 未_H value suggested that, contrary to the case of other two-dimensional materials (e.g., graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides), hydrogen-bonding plays a substantial role in the efficient interaction, and thus dispersibility, of exfoliated g-C₃N₄ with solvents. Such an outcome was attributed to a high density of primary and/or secondary amines in the material, the presence of which was associated with incomplete condensation of the structure. Furthermore, cell proliferation tests carried out on thin films of exfoliated g-C₃N₄ using murine fibroblasts suggested that this material is highly biocompatible and noncytotoxic. Finally, the exfoliated g-C₃N₄ flakes were used as supports in the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles, and the resulting hybrids exhibited an exceptional catalytic activity in the reduction of nitroarenes.