Functional graphitic carbon (IV) nitride: A versatile sensing material

The great progresses witnessed in the last decade for the rational design of the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) have warranted its successful use in applications including sensing, photocatalysis, electromagnetic shielding and energy storage devices. There have been multiple studies for g-C3N4 (or g-CN) nanostructures that have underlined the substantial research as a photocatalyst and electrode material in energy devices, while no such in-depth study, on the other hand, went into detail about the g-CN based sensors, their underlying problems regarding the transduction principles, and sensitivity/selectivity issues towards various analytes. Although in its nascent stage, the g-CN nanostructures have made the detection possible in almost all environmental entities (land, air, and water), e.g., biomolecules (protein, glucose, melamine, amino acids) and engineered compounds (drugs, antibiotics, explosives), yet a systematic study summarizing the merits/demerits for g-CN based sensors is still missing. This review gives a detailed overview and summarizes the challenges while simultaneously highlights the key insights in the exciting field of sensors. Researchers working in the sensor domain will undoubtedly benefit from this review, as it will provide new perspectives into the intriguing world of g-CN material which has emerged as a new sensing platform that is at-par to other functional materials discussed in the literature. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.