Abstract
Engineered nanomaterials are emerging in the field of environmental chemistry. This study involves the analysis of the structural, electronic, crystallinity, and morphological changes in graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), an engineered nanomaterial, under rapid cooling conditions. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, Fourier transform infrared, Raman, band gap, and Mott–Schottky analyses strongly proved that the liquid N2-quenched sample of g-C3N4 has structural distortion. The photocatalytic efficiency of engineered g-C3N4 nanostructures was analyzed through the degradation of reactive red 120 (RR120), methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B, and bromophenol as a representative dye. The photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency was analyzed by UV–vis spectroscopy and total organic carbon (TOC) analysis. The photocatalytic efficiency of g-C3N4 under different quenching conditions included quenching at room temperature in ice and liquid N2. The degradation efficiencies are found to be 4.2, 14.7, and 82.33% for room-temperature, ice, and liquid N2 conditions, respectively. The pseudo-first-order reaction rate of N2-quenched g-C3N4 is 9 times greater than the ice-quenched g-C3N4. Further, the TOC analysis showed that 55% (MB) and 59% (RR120) of photocatalytic mineralization were achieved within a time duration of 120 min by the liquid N2-quenched g-C3N4 nanostructure. In addition, the quenched g-C3N4 electrocatalytic behavior was examined via the hydrogen (H2) evolution reaction in acidic medium. The liquid N2-quenched g-C3N4 catalyst showed a lower overpotential with high H2 evolution when compared with the other two g-C3N4-quenched samples. The results obtained provide an insight and extend the scope for the application of engineered g-C3N4 nanostructures in the degradation of organic pollutants as well as for H2 evolution.
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