熔盐辅助法制备g-C3N4纳米结构及其光催化制氢性能

以尿素作为原料, 采用熔盐辅助热聚合法在KCl-NaCl-BaCl₂体系中制备了带隙可调的g-C₃N₄纳米结构. 采用X射线衍射仪、 扫描电子显微镜、 X射线光电子能谱仪、 紫外-可见漫反射光谱仪及荧光光谱仪对产物的结构、 形貌、 成分及光学性能进行了表征. 对g-C₃N₄纳米结构可见光条件下的光催化制氢性能进行了测试, 研究了不同的尿素/熔盐比对其光催化性能的影响. 结果表明, 熔盐辅助热聚合法制备的g-C₃N₄ 纳米结构吸收光谱出现明显宽化, 吸收边由普通热聚合法制备g-C₃N₄的约450 nm红移至约500 nm左右. 同时光生载流子复合几率明显降低, 从而有效提升其光催化制氢性能. 最优化的g-C₃N₄(60)样品析氢速率达到12301.1 μmol?g^?1?h^?1, 为普通热聚合法制备g-C₃N₄析氢速率的4倍.     

类石墨相C3N4光催化剂改性研究

半导体光催化技术不仅可以将太阳能转化为化学能,还可以直接降解和矿化有机污染物,因此其在抑制环境污染和解决能源短缺方面具有广阔的应用前景。类石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)具有独特的电子能带结构、优异的热稳定性以及化学稳定性,因此g-C₃N₄作为一种廉价的无金属光催化剂被广泛应用于光解水制氢产氧、污染物降解、光催化CO₂还原、抗菌和有机官能团选择性转换等领域。然而,传统热缩聚法合成的g-C₃N₄光催化剂比表面积小、禁带宽度大、光生电子-空穴易于复合、光生载流子传输慢,抑制了其光催化活性。为了进一步提高g-C₃N₄的光催化活性,出现了多种改性方法。本文针对g-C₃N₄光催化剂的改性研究,综述了近年来国内外在g-C₃N₄光催化剂改性方面的重要研究进展,如采用模板法优化g-C₃N₄的纳米结构、元素掺杂及共聚合调控g-C₃N₄的能带结构、贵金属沉积或半导体复合提高光生载流子分离效率等。最后,本文还展望了g-C₃N₄光催化剂在改性方面的未来发展趋势。     

一步热聚合法制备K、Mn共掺杂g-C3N4复合光催化剂应用于CO2还原

以尿素和KMnO₄为原料,采用一步热聚合法制备了K、 Mn共掺杂g-C₃N₄复合催化剂,并将其应用于光催化CO₂还原. XRD、 FT-IR、 TEM-EDS、 XPS表征结果表明, K和Mn元素成功地共掺杂到g-C₃N₄骨架构成n-π*共轭形式,部分Mn元素以MnO₂的形式存在.通过色谱对产物进行检测,所有样品的主要产物为CO和CH₄,其中K、Mn共掺杂g-C₃N₄样品较纯的g-C₃N₄样品表现出更高的CO和CH₄产率,最高分别是纯g-C₃N₄的1.82倍和2.18倍.表征发现, K、 Mn共掺杂g-C₃N₄复合催化剂的CO₂还原性能的提升得益于扩展的可见光利用率和光致载流子的加速分离和转移.     

氮化碳聚合物半导体光催化

半导体光催化技术通过太阳光驱动一系列重要的化学反应,将低密度的太阳能转化为高密度的化学能或直接降解和矿化有机污染物,在解决能源短缺和环境污染等问题方面具有重要的应用前景。最近,聚合物半导体石墨相氮化碳（g-C₃N₄）,由于优异的化学稳定性和独特的电子能带结构,被作为一种廉价、稳定、不含金属组分的可见光光催化剂广泛应用于太阳能的光催化转化,如光解水产氢产氧、有机选择性光合成和有机污染物的降解等,引起人们的关注。本文将围绕g-C₃N₄光催化剂的改性研究,综述国内外近年来在g-C₃N₄光催化领域所取得一些重要进展,比如理论研究g-C₃N₄的组成结构及化学性质、金属/非金属掺杂调控g-C₃N₄的半导体能带结构、软/硬模板法优化g-C₃N₄的纳米结构、表面化学修饰改进g-C₃N₄的表面反应动力学过程及半导体复合提高光生载流子的分离效率等。最后,本文还对g-C₃N₄光催化的未来发展趋势进行展望。     

石墨相氮化碳纳米管的合成及光催化产氢性能

通过硬模板法,采用氰胺前驱物和二氧化硅纳米管(SiO₂-NTs)模板,合成石墨相氮化碳纳米管(CN-NTs)光催化剂。采用扫描电镜(SEM)、透射电镜(TEM)、X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、傅立叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、氮气吸附/脱附测试、紫外可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis DRS)、荧光光谱、热重分析(TGA)等手段对CN-NTs催化剂的结构与性能进行表征。结果表明,CN-NTs的化学组成是石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄),形貌为均匀的纳米管,且是介孔材料。与体相氮化碳(B-CN)和介孔石墨相氮化碳(mpg-CN)相比,CN-NTs的光吸收带边蓝移到440 nm,荧光发射谱的峰强减弱。在可见光(λ>420 nm)照射下,CN-NTs具有较高的光催化分解水活性,产氢速率为58 μmol/h,且表现出良好的光催化活性稳定性和化学结构稳定性。研究结果表明纳米管状结构能有效促进g-C₃N₄半导体激子解离,提高光生电子-空穴的分离效率,进而显著优化g-C₃N₄的光催化产氢性能。     

石墨相氮化碳/蒙脱石复合材料的制备及其可见光催化性能

为提高石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)对可见光的利用率及光催化效率,采用热聚合与直接负载等方法,将g-C₃N₄负载于蒙脱石表面,制备了g-C₃N₄/蒙脱石复合光催化材料,其结构经SEM, FT-IR及XRD表征。以罗丹明B(RhB)为目标污染物,研究了不同负载量g-C₃N₄/蒙脱石复合光催化剂的可见光催化性能。并分别以对苯醌、碘化钾和异丙醇为自由基捕获剂,研究了复合材料的光催化机理。结果表明：当g-C₃N₄的质量分数为83%(CN/M-83%)时,RhB经可见光照射1 h后,降解率达到99.2%。光催化速率常数为纯g-C₃N₄光催化速率常数的3.2倍。     

WO3/g-C3N4异质结催化剂的制备及其氧化脱硫性能

以尿素和钨酸铵为原料采用浸渍法制备了金属氧化物三氧化钨（WO₃）与石墨相氮化碳（g-C₃N₄）异质结复合材料WO₃/g-C₃N₄。采用XRD、UV-vis、SEM、PL和XPS表征手段考察了催化剂的理化性质,发现WO₃与g-C₃N₄存在较好的相互作用和电子转移,保证了WO₃/g-C₃N₄本身所具有较高的氧化脱硫活性。以WO₃/g-C₃N₄作为催化剂,过氧化氢异丙苯为氧化剂,考察其光催化氧化脱硫性能,在反应温度80℃,O/S物质的量比为3.0的反应条件下,反应180 min,二苯并噻吩（DBT）转化率可以达到72.79%。通过游离基捕获实验,发现超氧自由基（·O₂^-）、电子（e^-）、羟基自由基（·OH）起到了促进反应速率的作用,并对该体系的反应机理进行了探讨。     

Z-机制g-C3N4/Bi/BiOBr异质结光催化剂制备及其可见光降解甲醛气体研究

通过将BiOBr纳米片与g-C₃N₄复合,然后原位还原,合成了具有纳米花状结构的三元异质结光催化剂g-C₃N₄/Bi/BiOBr.对g-C₃N₄/Bi/BiOBr的结构、形貌、元素价态和光学性能等进行了表征和研究.评估了g-C₃N₄/Bi/BiOBr对气体甲醛的光催化降解活性. g-C₃N₄/Bi/BiOBr在可见光照射下降解甲醛的活性与g-C₃N₄、 BiOBr单体和g-C₃N₄/BiOBr二元复合物相比显著提高. 20%-g-C₃N₄/Bi/BiOBr复合物可以在60 min内(λ> 400 nm)降解80%的气态甲醛(初始浓度0.16 mg·L^-1).     

亚甲基蓝嵌入的供体受体型g-C3N4纳米片光催化剂用于产H2(英文)

石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)是一种优异的产H₂光催化剂,但是其存在载流子分离效率低、光吸收能力较差和比表面积小的问题。本研究通过对二氰二胺和亚甲基蓝(MB)进行热共聚合,结合后续热剥离策略,成功合成了一种新型分子内供体-受体(D-A)结构g-C₃N₄纳米片光催化剂。实验结果和密度泛函理论(DFT)计算表明,将亚甲基蓝掺入g-C₃N₄框架中扩大了光吸收范围,促进了载流子的分离。此外,热剥离增加了催化剂的比表面积且进一步促进了载流子的分离。因此,D-A结构g-C₃N₄纳米片显示出大幅提升的光催化产氢活性(2275.6μmol·h^-1·g^-1),分别是块状g-C₃N₄、D-A结构g-C₃N₄、g-C₃N₄纳米片的5.30,2...     

聚咪唑/氮化碳新型纳米复合材料修饰电极对尿酸、黄嘌呤和次黄嘌呤的同时检测

以三聚氰胺为原料, 采用热聚合法合成了类石墨烯状二维片状氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)纳米材料; 通过电沉积和高电位氧化的方法制得氧化聚咪唑(PImox)/g-C₃N₄修饰电极(PImox/g-C₃N₄/GCE). 采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和X射线粉末衍射仪(XRD)对g-C₃N₄纳米材料进行了表征; 通过循环伏安法(CV)和差分脉冲伏安法(DPV)考察了尿酸(UA)、 黄嘌呤(XA)和次黄嘌呤(HX)在该电极上的电化学行为. 结果表明, UA, XA和HX的检测线性范围分别为2.0~216.0, 5.0~542.0和5.0~778.0 μmol/L; 检出限分别为0.17, 0.30和0.30 μmol/L. 将该修饰电极用于实际样品(血清和尿液)中UA, XA和HX的同时测定, 加标回收率为98.4%~105.2%.     

高活性氮化碳纳米片的制备策略

Layered graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) is a typical polymeric semiconductor with an sp² π-conjugated system having great potential in energy conversion, environmental purification, materials science, etc., owing to its unique physicochemical and electrical properties. However, bulk g-C₃N₄ obtained by calcination suffers from a low specific surface area, rapid charge carrier recombination, and poor dispersion in aqueous solutions, which limit its practical applications. Controlling the size of g-C₃N₄ (e.g., preparing g-C₃N₄ nanosheets) can effectively solve the above problems. Compared with the bulk material, g-C₃N₄ nanosheets have a larger specific surface area, richer active sites, and a larger band gap due to the quantum confinement effect. As g-C₃N₄ has a layered structure with strong in-plane C-N covalent bonds and weak van der Waals forces between the layers, g-C₃N₄ nanosheets can be prepared by exfoliating bulk g-C₃N₄. Alternatively, g-C₃N₄ nanosheets can otherwise be obtained through the anisotropic assembly of organic precursors. Nevertheless, some of these methods have various limitations, such as high energy consumption, are time consuming, and have low yield. Accordingly, developing green and cost-effective exfoliation and preparation strategies for g-C₃N₄ nanosheets is necessary. Herein, the research progress of the exfoliation and preparation strategies (including the thermal oxidation etching process, the ultrasound-assisted route, the chemical exfoliation, the mechanical method, and the template method) for two-dimensional C₃N₄ nanosheets are introduced. Their features are systematically analyzed and the perspectives and challenges in the preparation of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets are discussed. This study emphasizes the following: (1) The preparation method of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets should be properly selected according to the practical application needs. Additionally, various strategies (such as chemical method and ultrasonic method) can be combined to exfoliate nanosheets from bulk g-C₃N₄; (2) More reasonable nano- or even subnanostructured g-C₃N₄ nanosheets should be continuously explored; (3) Novel modification strategies, such as defective engineering, heterojunction construction, and surface functional group regulation, should be introduced to improve the reactivity and selectivity of the g-C₃N₄ nanosheets; (4) The application of in situ characterization techniques (such as in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy) should also be strengthened to monitor the detailed catalytic process and investigate the g-C₃N₄ nanosheet structure-efficiency relationship. (5) To gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the macroscopic properties and the microscopic structure, the combination of theoretical calculations and experimental results should be strengthened, which will be beneficial for exploiting high-quality g-C₃N₄ nanosheets.      

g-C3N4表面改性及其光催化制H2与CO2还原研究进展

Solar energy is the largest renewable energy source in the world and the primary energy source of wind energy, tidal energy, biomass energy, and fossil fuel. Photocatalysis technology is a sunlight-driven chemical reaction process on the surface of photocatalysts that can generate H₂ from water, decompose organic contaminants, and reduce CO₂ into organic fuels. As a metal-free polymeric material, graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has attracted significant attention because of its special band structure, easy fabrication, and low costs. However, some bottlenecks still limit its photocatalytic performance. To date, numerous strategies have been employed to optimize the photoelectric properties of g-C₃N₄, such as element doping, functional group modification, and construction of heterojunctions. Remarkably, these modification strategies are strongly associated with the surface behavior of g-C₃N₄, which plays a key role in efficient photocatalytic performance. In this review, we endeavor to provide a comprehensive summary of g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts prepared through typical surface modification strategies (surface functionalization and construction of heterojunctions) and elaborate their special light-excitation and response mechanism, photo-generated carrier transfer route, and surface catalytic reaction in detail under visible-light irradiation. Moreover, the potential applications of the surface-modified g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts for photocatalytic H₂ generation and reduction of CO₂ into fuels are summarized. Finally, based on the current research, the key challenges that should be further studied and overcome are highlighted. The following are the objectives that future studies need to focus on: (1) Although considerable effort has been made to develop a surface modification strategy for g-C₃N₄, its photocatalytic efficiency is still too low to meet industrial application standards. The currently obtained solar-to‑hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of g-C₃N₄ for H₂ generation is approximately 2%, which is considerably lower than the commercial standards of 10%. Thus, the regulation of the surface/textural properties and electronic band structure of g-C₃N₄ should be further elucidated to improve its photocatalytic performance. (2) Significant challenges remain in the design and construction of g-C₃N₄-based S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts by facile, low-cost, and reliable methods. To overcome the limitations of conventional heterojunctions thoroughly, a promising S-scheme heterojunction photocatalytic system was recently reported. The study further clarifies the charge transfer route and mechanism during the catalytic process. Thus, the rational design and synthesis of g-C₃N₄-based S-scheme heterojunctions will attract extensive scientific interest in the next few years in this field. (3) First-principle calculation is an effective strategy to study the optical, electrical, magnetic, and other physicochemical properties of surface strategy modified g-C₃N₄, providing important information to reveal the charge transfer path and intrinsic catalytic mechanism. As a result, density functional theory (DFT) computation will be paid increasing attention and widely applied in surface-modified g-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts.     

碱催化剂g-C3N4在液相反应中溶胀特性的研究

Graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C₃N₄) with different surface areas were prepared by pyrolysis using different precursors including melamine, dicyandiamide, thiourea and urea, and subsequently characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and N2 adsorption. Their basicities were measured by temperature-programmed desorption of CO₂ (CO₂-TPD) and acid-base titration. The catalytic properties for the Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde and malononitrile were investigated in various solvents. In non-polar toluene solution, the benzaldehyde conversions of the g-C₃N₄ catalysts were low and changed according to their respective surface areas and basicities. However, in polar ethanol solution, the benzaldehyde conversions of all catalysts were similar, and much higher than those in toluene. This could not be explained by the results obtained from either of the two conventional basicity measurements. Further experimental results proved that g-C₃N₄ catalysts swelled in polar solutions, and more basic sites were exposed on the surface of the swollen catalysts, leading to the imminent increase in catalytic activity. This was proved by the catalyst poisoning data, which showed that the g-C₃N₄ catalyst lost its activity completely in toluene by adding 40.9 mmol·g^-1 benzoic acid, while the same catalyst was still active in ethanol until the added amount exceeded 143.3 m·g^-1. Additionally, the reaction tests in various solutions showed that the swelling effect was enhanced according to the polarity of the solvent used. A similar conclusion could be reached for the Knoevenagel condensation of furfural and malononitrile in various solvents. The reusability of g-C₃N₄ catalyst in Knoevenagel condensation was also studied, which showed that g-C₃N₄ was stable in liquid-phase reactions, whose activity dropped from 74.2% to 63.8% after three regeneration processes.     

三聚氰胺与蜜勒胺在Au (111)表面的自组装和氢键识别

Melamine and melem molecules are widely used precursors for synthesizing graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), the latter also a hot two-dimensional material with photocatalytic applications. The molecular structures of both are respectively identical to the repeating units of two distinct g-C₃N₄ phases. In this work, the adsorption and self-assembly of melamine and melem on an Au(111) surface were investigated with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Particularly, the patterns of hydrogen bonds (HBs) in their assemblies were identified and compared. It was found that melamine can only form one type of HB and two kinds of assembly structures, whereas melem can form three types of HBs and six kinds of assembly structures in total. Moreover, the involved HBs can be transformed by tip manipulation. These findings may provide a new strategy for tuning the functionality of surface self-assemblies by manipulating intermolecular hydrogen bonds. This also paves a route for the in situ synthesis of g-C₃N₄ on metallic surfaces and subsequent investigations of their physicochemical properties.     

类石墨烯C3N4纳米片光催化分解水制氢中的量子限域效应

从层状化合物获得的纳米片是一类新型纳米结构材料,这种二维各向异性的纳米甚至亚纳米级的材料具有独特的物理化学性能,其中最好的一个例证就是从石墨烯C₃N₄到石墨烯C₃N₄纳米片的转变。通过高温氧化热刻蚀方法将体相g-C₃N₄剥离成g-C₃N₄纳米片,应用于染料敏化可见光分解水产氢,表现出了较体相g-C₃N₄高于2.6倍的产氢速率。通过X射线衍射（XRD）、傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、Brunauer-Emmett-Teller（BET）、荧光光谱和光电化学等表征研究了g-C₃N₄纳米片的结构及曙红（EY）和g-C₃N₄纳米片之间的电子迁移过程。热剥离后的g-C₃N₄纳米片具有较高的比表面积,不仅可以更为有效地吸附染料分子,还因其量子限域效应大大增强了光生电荷的分离效率和电子转移效率,改善了电子沿平面方向的传输能力以及光生载流子的寿命,从而显著提高g-C₃N₄纳米片的光催化产氢活性。     

石墨相氮化碳材料在样品前处理中的研究进展

作为一种新型非金属材料,石墨相氮化碳以其独特的优点,如简单的制备方法、优良的化学及热稳定性、良好的生物兼容性和无毒性等,受到越来越多的关注。石墨相氮化碳及其复合材料目前已被广泛应用于电催化、光催化、生物成像等领域。由于具有大的比表面积,同时又是富电子的疏水材料,石墨相氮化碳相关材料被认为是一种理想的样品前处理吸附剂。该文探讨了近年来石墨相氮化碳及其复合材料作为固相萃取、分散固相萃取、磁性固相萃取、固相微萃取吸附剂在样品前处理中的应用,并对未来的发展趋势和应用前景进行了展望,以期为相关领域的研究提供帮助。     

Cu2+改性g-C3N4光催化剂的光催化性能

Photocatalytic technology can effectively solve the problem of increasingly serious water pollution, the core of which is the design and synthesis of highly efficient photocatalytic materials. Semiconductor photocatalysts are currently the most widely used photocatalysts. Among these is graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), which has great potential in environment management and the development of new energy owing to its low cost, easy availability, unique band structure, and good thermal stability. However, the photocatalytic activity of g-C₃N₄ remains low because of problems such as wide bandgap, weakly absorb visible light, and the high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers. Among various modification strategies, doping modification is an effective and simple method used to improve the photocatalytic performance of materials. In this work, Cu/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts were successfully prepared by incorporating Cu²⁺ into g-C₃N₄ to further optimize photocatalytic performance. At the same time, the structure, morphology, and optical and photoelectric properties of Cu/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoelectric tests. XRD and XPS were used to ensure that the prepared photocatalysts were Cu/g-C₃N₄ and the valence state of Cu was in the form of Cu²⁺. Under visible light irradiation, the photocatalytic activity of Cu/g-C₃N₄ and pure g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts were investigated in terms of the degradation of RhB and CIP by comparing the amount of introduced copper ions. The experimental results showed that the degradation ability of Cu/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts was stronger than that of pure g-C₃N₄. The N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms of g-C₃N₄ and Cu/g-C₃N₄ demonstrated that the introduction of copper had little effect on the microstructure of g-C₃N₄. The small difference in specific surface area indicates that the enhanced photocatalytic activity may be attributed to the effective separation of photogenerated carriers. Therefore, the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of RhB and CIP over Cu/g-C₃N₄ may be due to the reduction of carrier recombination rate by copper. The photoelectric test showed that the incorporation of Cu²⁺ into g-C₃N₄ could reduce the electron-hole recombination rate of g-C₃N₄ and accelerate the separation of electron-hole pairs, thus enhancing the photocatalytic activity of Cu/g-C₃N₄. Free radical trapping experiments and electron spin resonance indicated that the synergistic effect of superoxide radicals (O₂^•−), hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and holes could increase the photocatalytic activity of Cu/g-C₃N₄ materials.     

单层石墨相氮化碳负载Pt4团簇吸附O2的第一性理论研究

采用第一性原理密度泛函理论结合周期性平板模型模拟研究了Pt₄团簇吸附单层石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)的几何结构和电子性质,以及氧气在其表面上的吸附行为。同时,对比分析了氧气在纯净的石墨相氮化碳和Pt₄团簇上的吸附行为。计算结果表明, Pt₄团簇吸附在3-s-三嗪环石墨相氮化碳表面,并与四个边缘氮原子成键,形成两个六元环时为最稳定构型。Pt₄团簇倾向于吸附在三嗪环石墨相氮化碳的空位并与邻近三个氮原子成键。由于Pt与N原子较强的杂化作用,以及金属与底物之间较多电子转移增强了Pt₄团簇吸附g-C₃N₄的稳定性。另外,对比分析了氧气在纯净的g-C₃N₄和金属吸附的g-C₃N₄上吸附行为,发现金属原子的加入促进了电子转移,同时拉长了O―O键长。Pt₄吸附3-s-三嗪环g-C₃N₄比Pt₄吸附三嗪环g-C₃N₄表现出微弱的优势,表现出明显的基底扭曲以及较大的吸附能。这些结果表明,化学吸附通过调节电子结构和表面性质增强催化性能的较好方法。     

缺陷工程调控石墨相氮化碳及其光催化空气净化应用进展

Since the pioneering work on polychlorinated biphenyl photodegradation by Carey in 1976, photocatalytic technology has emerged as a promising and sustainable strategy to overcome the significant challenges posed by energy crisis and environmental pollution. In photocatalysis, sunlight, which is an inexhaustible source of energy, is utilized to generate strongly active species on the surface of the photocatalyst for triggering photo-redox reactions toward the successful removal of environmental pollutants, or for water splitting. The photocatalytic performance is related to the photoabsorption, photoinduced carrier separation, and redox ability of the semiconductor employed as the photocatalyst. Apart from traditional and noble metal oxide semiconductors such as P25, bismuth-based compounds, and Pt-based compounds, 2D g-C₃N₄ is now identified to have enormous potential in photocatalysis owing to the special π-π conjugated bond in its structure. However, some inherent drawbacks of the conventional g-C₃N₄, including the insufficient visible-light absorption ability, fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and low quantum efficiency, decrease its photocatalytic activity and limit its application. To date, various strategies such as heterojunction fabrication, special morphology design, and element doping have been adopted to tune the physicochemical properties of g-C₃N₄. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of defect engineering for boosting the light harvesting, charge separation, and adsorption efficiency of g-C₃N₄ by tailoring the local surface microstructure, electronic structure, and carrier concentration. In this review, we summarize cutting-edge achievements related to g-C₃N₄ modified with classified non-external-caused defects (carbon vacancies, nitrogen vacancies, etc.) and external-caused defects (doping and functionalization) for optimizing the photocatalytic performance in water splitting, removal of contaminants in the gas phase and wastewater, nitrogen fixation, etc. The distinctive roles of various defects in the g-C₃N₄ skeleton in the photocatalytic process are also summarized. Moreover, the practical application of 2D g-C₃N₄ in air pollution control is highlighted. Finally, the ongoing challenges and perspectives of defective g-C₃N₄ are presented. The overarching aim of this article is to provide a useful scaffold for future research and application studies on defect-modulated g-C₃N₄.