Oxygen Functionalized Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Photocatalytic Degradation of Dye

Abstract

Photocatalyst such as graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is being studied intensively due to its ability in photocatalysis. g-C3N4 is a metal-free semiconductor photocatalyst with a bandgap of approximately 2.7 eV which contributes to its good visible light harvesting ability. In this work, bulk g-C3N4 was produced via pyrolysis of melamine in a muffle furnace. Functionalized g-C3N4 with improved properties was synthesized via modified Hummers method. The powdered form of functionalized g-C3N4 were characterized using SEM and EDX to identify its physiological properties. The result showed that the introduction of oxygen into g-C3N4 is proven by the increased content of oxygen in the functionalized g-C3N4 upon oxidation using Hummers method. Besides, exfoliation of g-C3N4 to smaller particle size observed from the SEM images. Then, the phototcatalytic performances of the bulk g-C3N4 and functionalized g-C3N4 were evaluated by degrading of Methylene Blue (MB) dyes under LED light irradiation. The result revealed that the bulk g-C3N4 has a higher efficiency in removal of dyes (56.40 % in 150 minutes) than the functionalized g-C3N4 (22.60 % in 150 minutes) which indicates that it has a better photocatalytic degradation ability, which possibly due to the destruction of compound structure under strong acid treatment.