Effect of MXene Loaded on g-C3N4 Photocatalyst for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue

Muhammad Syahmi Irfan Nasri,Mohamad Fakhrul Ridhwan Samsudin,Asif Ali Tahir,Suriati Sufian

doi:10.3390/en15030955

Muhammad Syahmi Irfan Nasri, Mohamad Fakhrul Ridhwan Samsudin + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030955

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Jan 28, 2022
Citations: 36	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universiti Teknologi Petronas, University of Exeter

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation is one of the environmentally friendly methods used in treating dye wastewater. In this study, a series of MXene/g-C3N4 heterostructure photocatalysts with different loading amounts of MXene (1, 4, 8, and 12 wt.%) were successfully synthesized via the wet impregnation method and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated via the degradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation. As such, the 1 wt.% MXene/g-C3N4 heterostructure photocatalyst achieved a high degradation of methylene blue compared to the pure g-C3N4 under visible-light illumination of 180 min. This significant improvement was attributed to the intimate interfacial contact, evidently from the FESEM analysis, which allows the smooth photocharge carriers to transport between g-C3N4 and MXene. Additionally, the larger BET surface area demonstrated by the 1 wt.% MXene/g-C3N4 heterostructure allowed this sample to have higher adsorption of dye molecules and provided a higher number of reactive sites, which was beneficial for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity. Nevertheless, it was found that the excessive loading of MXene can substantially impede photocatalytic activity. This was attributed to the decrease in the active sites, as well as the weakened crystallinity of the MXene/g-C3N4 heterostructure photocatalyst, evident from the FTIR and XRD analysis. All in all, this study has shown the potential of the MXene/g-C3N4 photocatalyst as a promising photocatalyst for highly efficient wastewater treatment applications.

Highlights

Nowadays, the textile industry has proven to be one of the most important industries to humankind as clothes serve as a basic need for humans
Materials degradation studies were of analytical grade and were used without any further purificaAll of the reagents and solutions used to synthesize photocatalysts and photocatalytic tion
Urea, hydrofluoric acid, Ti3AlC2, and degradation studies were of analytical grade and were used without any further purificamethylene blue powder were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich company

Summary

Introduction

The textile industry has proven to be one of the most important industries to humankind as clothes serve as a basic need for humans. The textile industry poses a serious environmental issue as it consumes a huge amount of fresh water on a daily basis and discharges 0.7 megatons of dyes products annually [2]. The released colored dye can cause several environmental issues, such as contamination of viable water sources, as well as endangering aquatic life and eventually causing harm to the human society if not controlled. Various methods for wastewater treatment, especially for methylene blue, such as adsorption, sedimentation, filtration through a membrane, and coagulation, has been explored [4]. Even though these methods can remove most pollutants, research has showed that the pollutants were not fully eliminated [5]. AOP (advanced oxidation process) is one of the viable options and is a propitious wastewater treatment activity, capable of degrading most of the pollutants as the as-generated hydroxyl radicals possess high oxidation prospects [6]

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Conclusion