High surface area g-C3N4 and g-C3N4-TiO2 photocatalytic activity under UV and Visible light: Impact of individual component

Abstract

Using sunlight to activate a catalyst and clean up aqueous effluents is an important issue. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4) is a visible light photocatalyst, whose potential is restricted by its small surface area. This study counters this deficiency by developing a single-step calcination approach that results in g-C3 N4 with high surface area (200 m2/g). Then, the impact of surface area, irradiance and catalyst concentration of g-C3N4 on the HCOOH photocatalytic degradation is determined. Results showed that the performance increases linearly with surface area and irradiance, whereas it reaches a plateau as the concentration is increased. A relative photonic efficiency of around 5.5%, independent of the light source was found. Finally, g-C3 N4 -TiO2 mixture was prepared using mechanical grinding and optimized to obtain an active photocatalyst in both visible and ultraviolet regions.