LAUSR

The Ag+ photoreduction by graphitic carbon nitride(g-CN) materials in a high concentration of Ag+ solution is reported, and a series of colorful Ag/g-CN composites is prepared and characterized. The chromatic change correlates to the carbon nitride materials synthesized at different heating temperatures(CNT, where T means heating temperature), taking advantage of the different photocatalytic activities of different CNT. The mechanism beneath this phenomenon is attributed to two factors: the particle size of Ag NPs and the coordinate effect of Ag NPs on CNT sheets. Interestingly, the multicolors of Ag/g-CN composites display only on the CNT materials synthesized from heating melamine-cyanuric acid precursor, but not on the CNT from heating pure melamine. The color of the as-prepared Ag/g-CN composites can endure the corrosion of HNO3 and ethanol, which shows a good chemical stability and may hint its application as chromophores.