Synthesis of beta carbon nitride nanosized crystal through mechanochemical reaction

Nanosized beta carbon nitride (beta-C3N4), of grain size several tens of nanometres, has been synthesized by mechanochemical reaction processing. The low-cost synthetic method developed facilitates the novel and effective synthesis of nanosized crystalline beta-C3N4 (a = 6.36 Angstrom, c = 4.648 Angstrom) powders. The graphite powders were first milled to a nanoscale state, then the nanosized graphite powders were milled in an atmosphere of NH3 gas. It was found that nanosized beta-C3N4 was formed after high-energy ball milling under an NH3 atmosphere. After thermal annealing, the shape of the P-C3N4 changes from flake-like to sphere-like. The nanosized beta-C3N4 formed was characterized by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. A solid-gas reaction mechanism was proposed for the formation of nanosized beta-C3N4 at room temperature induced by mechanochemical activation.