Ionothermal synthesis of magnetic N-doped porous carbon to immobilize Pd nanoparticles as an efficient nanocatalyst for the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds

Carbon materials play important roles as catalysts or catalyst supports for reduction reactions owing to their high porosity, large specific surface area, great electron conductivity, and excellent chemical stability. In this paper, a mesoporous N-doped carbon substrate (exhibited as N-C) has been synthesized by ionothermal carbonization of glucose in the presence of histidine. The N-C substrate was modified by Fe3O4 nanoparticles (N-C/Fe3O4), and then Pd nanoparticles were stabilized on the magnetic substrate to synthesize an eco-friendly Pd catalyst with high efficiency, magnetic, reusability, recoverability, and great stability. To characterize the Pd/Fe3O4-N-C nanocatalyst, different microscopic and spectroscopic methods such as FT-IR, XRD, SEM/EDX, and TEM were applied. Moreover, Pd/Fe3O4-N-C showed high catalytic activity in reducing nitroaromatic compounds in water at ambient temperatures when NaBH4 was used as a reducing agent. The provided nanocatalyst's great catalytic durability and power can be attributed to the synergetic interaction among well-dispersed Pd nanoparticles and N-doped carbonaceous support.

Modulating Anodic Electrochemiluminescence of Graphitic Carbon Nitride by Thiophene Doping

As an attractive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitter, graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) still suffers from weak anodic ECL signal. In this work, a simple molecular engineering strategy is employed to modulate anodic...

Graphitic Carbon Nitride: A Highly Electroactive Nanomaterial for Environmental and Clinical Sensing

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a two-dimensional conjugated polymer that has attracted the interest of researchers and industrial communities owing to its outstanding analytical merits such as low-cost synthesis, high stability, unique electronic properties, catalytic ability, high quantum yield, nontoxicity, metal-free, low bandgap energy, and electron-rich properties. Notably, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is the most stable allotrope of carbon nitrides. It has been explored in various analytical fields due to its excellent biocompatibility properties, including ease of surface functionalization and hydrogen-bonding. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) acts as a nanomediator and serves as an immobilization layer to detect various biomolecules. Numerous reports have been presented in the literature on applying graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for the construction of electrochemical sensors and biosensors. Different electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemiluminescence, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, square wave anodic stripping voltammetry, and amperometry techniques have been extensively used for the detection of biologic molecules and heavy metals, with high sensitivity and good selectivity. For this reason, the leading drive of this review is to stress the importance of employing graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for the fabrication of electrochemical sensors and biosensors.