Constructing Z-scheme g-C3N4/TiO2 heterostructure for promoting degradation of the hazardous dye pollutants

M Vijayan; Velu Manikandan; Chellakannu Rajkumar; Ashraf Atef Hatamleh; Bassam Khalid Alnafisi; G Easwaran; Xinghui Liu; K Sivakumar; Haekyoung Kim

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136928

Constructing Z-scheme g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ heterostructure for promoting degradation of the hazardous dye pollutants

Chemosphere. 2023 Jan;311(Pt 1):136928. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136928. Epub 2022 Oct 19.

Authors

M Vijayan¹, Velu Manikandan², Chellakannu Rajkumar³, Ashraf Atef Hatamleh⁴, Bassam Khalid Alnafisi⁴, G Easwaran⁵, Xinghui Liu⁶, K Sivakumar⁷, Haekyoung Kim⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Government Polytechnic College, Jolarpet, 635651, Tamilnadu, India.
² School of Physics and Electronic Information, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China; Department of Food Science and Technology, Seoul Women's University, 621 Hwarangno, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai, Tamilnadu, 600 077, India.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Government Polytechnic College, Dharmapuri, 635205, Tamilnadu, India.
⁶ School of Physics and Electronic Information, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China; Department of Materials Physics, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMTS), Chennai, 602105, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: liuxinghui@yau.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, Hosur, 635109, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: siva1782@gmail.com.
⁸ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hkkim@ynu.ac.kr.

PMID: 36272623
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136928

Abstract

The use of dyes and segments has increased widely in recent years, but it poses a serious health risk to ecosystems. In this work, TiO₂ and two-dimensional g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (g-CN) were fabricated through co-precipitation and thermal polymerization technique, respectively. The g-CN-TiO₂ photocatalyst (1: 3, 2: 2, 3: 1) in various weight percentages was prepared using a simple impregnation process. The photocatalytic behaviour of the g-CN, TiO₂ NPs, and different weight percentages of g-CN-TiO₂ photocatalyst was evaluated against methylene blue (MB) dye under UV-visible light illumination. Compared to pristine and other weight percentages of the g-CN-TiO₂ nanocomposite, the optimized g-CN-TiO₂ nanocomposite (3:1) showed promoted performance against MB dye. The enriched catalytic efficiency can be accredited to the low amount of TiO₂ nanoparticles deposited on gCN nanosheets, possibly due to the boosted transport properties of the electron-hole pairs. The enriched photocatalytic behaviour can be attributed to the development of the Z-scheme system between TiO₂ and g-CN. The current study is an outstanding demonstration of the development of maximum catalytic efficiency for destroying hazardous chemical dyes.

Keywords: G–C(3)N(4)–TiO(2) nanocomposite; MB dye; Photocatalyst; Wet impregnation method; Z-scheme.

MeSH terms

Coloring Agents* / chemistry
Ecosystem
Environmental Pollutants*
Methylene Blue / chemistry
Titanium / chemistry

Substances

titanium dioxide
Coloring Agents
Environmental Pollutants
Titanium
Methylene Blue