Polymeric carbon nitride in graphitic form (g-C3N4) is an emerging visible light active photocatalyst. In this work, phosphate-modified polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) was synthesized by thermal condensation of melamine in the presence of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP). The addition of PCN to methylene blue (MB) solution showed the color intensification. The hypsochromic shift in the absorption spectrum of MB is due to metachromasy, a phenomenon in which aggregation of dye molecules occurs over the surface of a material. The polymerization of melamine into carbon nitride and MB trimerization depend on the amount of ADP and nature of phosphate species, respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.