One‐Step Synthesis of Dicyanobenzene‐Derived Nitrogen‐Doped Porous Carbon Monolayers: Porosity and Near‐infrared Photoactivity

We present a facile and one-step synthesis of N-decorated porous carbon (NPC) material via direct heating dicyanobenzene in presence of ZnCl2, free from any pre- and post-treatments. The resultant NPC material features with graphite-like monolayers with thickness of ca. 1.4 nm as proved by microscopy technology. Highly porous NPC shows a BET surface area of 3038.5 m2 g-1 and a narrow pore size distribution centered at 0.51 nm. As a consequence, NPC displays a high H2 uptake up to 2.96 wt% at 77 K and CO2 adsorption capability of 23.4 wt% at 278 K and 1 bar. N-doping leads to optical absorption of NPC extended into near infrared (NIR) region. This N-decorated carbon material, as first example of NIR-triggered carbon photocatalyst, exhibits a pronounced H2 production capability. Carbonization of aromatic multi-nitriles would be a general and facile approach to prepare multifunctional N-doped carbon materials for gas storage and full solar spectrum-driven photocatalysts.