Published on September 2020 | Material Science

Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Efficient Fluorometric Quenching Bioassay of Hydrogen Peroxide: Effect of Structure on Properties

Demand for sensitive and selective sensing of hydrogen peroxide is high because of its importance in various fields. So, metal-free nanostructures of g-C3N4 were synthesized and characterized through different techniques. Characterizations showed that g-C3N4 physicochemical properties were depended upon the nanostructure. A porous, thin and fluffy structure was got from urea, which possessed a much higher surface area and pore volume as compared to the planar and crystalline structured g-C3N4 got from melamine. A fluorescence quenching approach of hydrogen peroxide determination using catalyst nanosheets was used to explore the catalytic activity of these nanostructures. Because of the porosity, structural defects, smaller-crystallite size, and large surface area of the fluffy structured catalyst showed better quenching efficiency as compared to the flat and planar structured g-C3N4. An oxygen atom in urea played a role in changing the textural properties to porous and fluffy g-C3N4. Based on that, a selective, sensitive, and rapid sensing method was established having a wide linear range of 90–2500 nM, a lower detection limit of 73 nM, and a quantification limit of 220 nM.