Mesoporous Carbon Nitrides as Emerging Materials: Nanoarchitectonics and Biosensing Applications

Abstract

Abstract Mesoporous carbon nitrides (MCNs) are versatile materials and find use in applications such as catalysis, gas capture, and remediation. The development of new forms of MCNs, such as C3N5, C3N6, and C3N7, has expanded their scope further. One of the least reviewed applications of these materials is in the field of sensing, though it has been demonstrated that their sensing abilities are on par with other comparable materials. Their excellent properties such as high surface area, tunable stoichiometry, adjustable electronic structure, and basicity, make them well‐suited for the adsorption and detection of a wide range of analytes. Herein, the new findings in the synthesis of MCNs and their exciting prospects for sensing are reviewed. The review is divided into two broad sections: 1) discussions on the synthesis of MCNs using hard/soft templating, sol–gel, and template‐free methods; and 2) their capabilities for photoelectrochemical, optical, and quartz microbalance‐based sensing. The findings from the recent literature are showcased and the covered topics are explained with comparative analyses. The current review is a timely presentation of the concerned topic and will serve as a useful piece of information for developing advanced sensors using MCN based materials.

Keywords

• mesoporous carbon nitride
• photo/electrochemical
• optical microbalance‐based sensing
• sol–gels
• templating synthesis routes
• non‐templating sythesis routes