Abstract
TiO2/g-C3N4 (GNT) fibers with 1%, 2.5% and 5% (wt%) ratios have been synthesized via one-step electrospinning using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymer. Results showed mesoporous fibrous catalysts consisted of anatase (80.0–85.1%) and rutile phase (14.9–20.0%), with diameter between 200–300 nm and band gap lower than 3.0 eV confirming the absorption shift to visible-light region. The formation of •OH radicals and methylene blue dye degradation increases as the g-C3N4 doping percent also increases, following the trend ΤiO2 < GNT1% ≈ GNT2.5% < GNT5%. A z-scheme mechanism is attributed to the photocatalytic performance confirming the potential for green chemistry and environmental technology applications.
Highlights
Heterogeneous photocatalysis is among the advanced oxidation processes (AOP’s) with growing applications in water and air treatment for the removal of various pollutants and disinfection
The X–ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for g-C3 N4, TiO2 and g-C3 N4 /TiO2 composite fibers are shown in Figure S1 and Figure 1, respectively
The results indicate the improved response to visible light for all prepared fibrous could be attributed to residual carbon modification as revealed by FT-IR spectroscopy
Summary
Heterogeneous photocatalysis is among the advanced oxidation processes (AOP’s) with growing applications in water and air treatment for the removal of various pollutants and disinfection. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is constrained by the relatively high recombination rate of electron-hole (e− -h+ ) pairs and the low efficiency for solar light due to the band gap of 3.0–3.2 eV. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ) is a promising organic semiconductor with the focus of recent studies on photocatalytic applications. It has relatively narrow band gap (2.7 eV) with two-dimensional (2D) nanostructure, high thermal (up to 600 ◦ C in air) and chemical stability due to s-triazine ring structure, high resistance in acidic and basic solutions and insolubility in common solvents as ethanol and water [4,5,6]. Its photocatalytic efficiency is quite limited due to the fast recombination of photogenerated electron-holes pairs [7]
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