Exfoliated and plicated g-C3N4 nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic organic degradation and hydrogen evolution

Exfoliated and plicated g-C3N4 nanosheets (CNsF) were prepared through a thermalchemical exfoliation in which the bulk g-C3N4 was obtained first under thermal exfoliation, and then was exposed to an acidic etching using hydrofluoric acid under hydrothermal condition. The acidic etching not only exfoliated g-C3N4 nanosheets by disrupting weak van der Waals forces between layers, which led to formation of a monolayer or a few layers of g-C3N4 nanosheets, but also made disordered defects on its surface and created