Photodegradation Performance of g-C₃N₄ Fabricated by Directly Heating Melamine

TLDR

The study evaluates the photocatalytic activity of g‑C3N4 by degrading methyl orange dye. g‑C3N4 was produced by directly heating melamine, and MO degradation proceeds mainly via photoreduction driven by photogenerated electrons. Ag loading significantly enhances g‑C3N4 photocatalytic activity, while acid radicals (SO42−/NO3−) further accelerate MO degradation, demonstrating that metal‑free g‑C3N4 performs well in organic pollutant photodegradation.

Abstract

The g-C3N4 photocatalyst was synthesized by directly heating the low-cost melamine. The methyl orange dye (MO) was selected as a photodegrading goal to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of as-prepared g-C3N4. The comparison experiments indicate that the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 can be largely improved by the Ag loading. The strong acid radical ion (SO42− or NO3−) can promote the degrading rate of MO for g-C3N4 photocatalysis system. The MO degradation over the g-C3N4 is mainly attributed to the photoreduction process induced by the photogenerated electrons. Our results clearly indicate that the metal-free g-C3N4 has good performance in photodegradation of organic pollutant.