Microporous Carbon Nitride (C N ) with Tetrazine based Molecular Structure for Efficient Adsorption of CO and Water.

Mesoporous carbon nitrides with C N and C N stoichiometries created a new momentum in the field of organic metal-free semiconductors owing to their unique band structures and high basicity. Here, we report on the preparation of a novel graphitic microporous carbon nitride with a tetrazine based chemical structure and the composition of C N using ultra-stable Y zeolite as the template and aminoguanidine hydrochloride, a high nitrogen-containing molecule, as the CN precursor. Spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations reveal that the prepared material exhibits a new molecular structure, which comprises two tetrazines and one triazine rings in the unit cell and is thermodynamically stable. The resultant carbon nitride shows an outstanding surface area of 130.4 m  g and demonstrates excellent CO adsorption per unit surface area of 47.54 μmol m , which is due to the existence of abundant free NH groups, basic sites and microporosity. The material also exhibits highly selective sensing over water molecules (151.1 mmol g ) and aliphatic hydrocarbons due to its unique microporous structure with a high amount of hydrophilic nitrogen moieties and recognizing ability towards small molecules.