Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The controlled polymerization of common organic precursor molecules at high temperatures is known to produce carbon nitride oligomers and polymers with a wide range of photocatalytic activity. However, tracking the electronic structures precisely in these complex functional systems remains a significant challenge. Here, we utilize bottom-up and top-down methods of high-temperature polymerization and solution-phase exfoliation to directly reveal the frontier molecular orbitals that give rise to near- and above-band edge transitions. Aqueous dispersions of the oligomeric fractions manifest a progressive increase in a molecular exciton of mixed ππ */ nπ * character that is reproducible with multiple precursors and tractable using theory. The results offer new electronic structural insights and outline a systems approach to resolving the structure-dependent optoelectronic properties of photocatalytic carbon nitrides.
Authors: Nnamdi C. Okey, Aditi Bhattacherjee
Institution: University of Iowa
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Award: G4243011560
OpenAlex ID: W4412471476