P-doped Carbon Nitride from Fertilizer Sources as a Versatile Solution for Environmental Remediation

Luca Cartabia^a^,^b, Yana Dubinina^b, Marianna Barbieri^c, Mateusz Wlazło^d, Pascal Schweitzer^e, Mengjiao Wang^f, Francesco Lamberti^c, Giorgio Zoppellaro^g, Derk Schlettwein^a^,^e, Bernd Smarsly^a^,^b, Silvio Osella^d, Luka Đorđević^c, Paolo Giusto^h, Teresa Gatti^a^,^b^,^f

^aCenter for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich−Buff−Ring 17, 35392 Giessen, Germany

^bInstitute of Physical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich−Buff−Ring 17, 35392 Giessen, Germany

^cDepartment of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy

^dChemical and Biological Systems Simulation Lab, Centre of New Technologies University of Warsaw, Ochota campus Banacha 2 C, 02097 Warszawa, Poland

^eInstitute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich−Buff−Ring 16, 35392 Giessen, Germany

^fDepartment of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

^gRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomuc Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic

^hDepartment of Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany

Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2026 Conference (MATSUSSpring26)

D5 2D Layered Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion and Storage

Barcelona, Spain, 2026 March 23rd - 27th

Organizers: Teresa Gatti, Paolo Giusto and Oleksandr Savatieiev

Oral, Luca Cartabia, presentation 090
Publication date: 15th December 2025

In recent years, carbon nitride (C₃N₄) has increasingly achieved a remarkable role in the world of semiconductors owing to its chemical and thermal stability alongside its bandgap (≈2.8 eV), which makes the material a well-established photocatalyst^[1]. In particular, doping with non-metals such as B, S, and P has proven to be an efficient and environmentally friendly way to overcome charge recombination and extend the absorption interval of the semiconductor, while also avoiding the use of common -and often critical- metallic elements^[2]. This contribution reports a straightforward and sustainable synthesis of P-doped carbon nitride starting from two cheap and abundant precursors: thiourea and (NH₄)₂HPO₃, which are two of the most widely available fertilizers. Elucidation on the structure, the composition, and the optical properties is performed with a broad range of analytical methodologies, including microscopies (HR-SEM, TEM), spectroscopies (DRS UV-vis, FT-IR, EPR, PL, TCSPC, EDS, XPS), XRD, and N₂ physisorption. Under blue LED light, the material is to effectively catalyzes the photodegradation of four different polluting dyes (Rhodamine B, Malachite Green, Indigo Carmine, and Congo Red) in water, as well as the oxidation of benzyl alcohol and benzyl amine in acetonitrile. Mechanistic studies revealed that the P-doped carbon nitride behaves like a dual-function photocatalyst, being able to rapidly degrade the pollutants and simultaneously produce H₂O₂, thus making this material of great promise for further research.

References:

[1] Mazzanti, S.; Manfredi, G.; Barker, A., J.; Antonietti, M.; Savateev, A.; Giusto P. Carbon Nitride Thin Films as All-In-One Technology for Photocatalysis. ACS Catalysis 2021, 11, 11109-11116

[2] Giusto, P.; Arazoe, H.; Cruz, D.; Lova, P.; Heil, T.; Aida, T.; Antonietti, M. Boron Carbon Nitride Thin Films: From Disordered to Ordered Conjugated Ternary Materials. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 20883-20891

Acknowledgements:

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through project 514772236. T.G. thanks the European Research Council (ERC) for the Starting Grant project JANUS BI (grant agreement no. [101041229]).

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