Integration of Exfoliated g-C3N4 & MOF: Build up towards Optical and Photocatalytic Applications

Programme

AKTION - funded by Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD, Austria) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy - MŠMT, CZ)

Project partners

Danube Private University (DPU), Optical Biosensors Technology group, LiST: 

• Asst. Prof. Dr. Juan A. Allegretto
• Katharina Schmidt, PhD

Department of Chemical and Physicochemical processes, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, Technical university of Ostrava (VŠB-TUO):

• Dr. Facundo Barraqué
• Prof. Ing. Vlastimil Matějka, PhD
• Ing. Ondrěj Mušalek

Abstract

Considering the rapid advancement of environmental technologies, the development of innovative materials capable of mitigating the harmful effects of industrialization, urbanization, and anthropogenic waste has become increasingly relevant. Among these, two-dimensional materials have attracted significant attention due to their outstanding electronic properties, particularly the possibility of tuning their bandgap in semiconducting systems. 

Within this class, exfoliated graphitic carbon nitrides (eg-C₃N₄) have gained particular attention owing to their high chemical stability, metal-free composition, and promising photocatalytic performance. Furthermore, their integration with Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOF) offers an effective strategy to overcome intrinsic limitations, such as layer stacking, while promoting the formation of composites with enhanced physicochemical properties. 

By combining these two classes of materials, this project aims to develop and characterize a hybrid inorganic–organic composite that exploits the synergistic interactions between eg-C₃N₄ and MOF components, with a particular focus on potential environmental and medical applications.