Investigation of Transition Metal-Doped Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Mo Dye Degradation

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has received significant attention recently as a metal-free and visible-light responsive photo-catalyst because of its exceptional photocatalytic activity. The separation and transit efficiency of the photo-generated charge carriers determines the photocatalytic effectiveness of g-C3N4 and g-C3N4-based materials for contaminant degradation. Therefore, pure g-C3N4 typically shows low impact. Herein, metal-doped (Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), and Zinc (Zn)) g-C3N4 is synthesized by an easy high-temperature process to enhance the performance of g-C3N4. The XRD, SEM, UV-vis DRS, measurements, photocatalytic testing, etc. are used to describe and evaluate the synthesized materials. As a result, metal-doped photo-catalysts exemplified improved visible-light photocatalytic activities for pollutants degradation with the benefits of reduced band gaps for prolonged visible-light absorption, and improved electronic structures for effective charge transfer. The Zn-doped g-C3N4 in particular exhibited efficient use of photo-generated electron-hole charge carriers during the pollutant degradation process due to the excellent tailoring, including both electronic structure and microstructures. As a result, the Zn-doped g-C3N4 photo-catalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic performance for Methyl Blue (MO) dye degradation. During the degradation process of the samples, i.e. (g-C3N4, Cu-g-C3N4, Mn-g-C3N4, and Zn-g-C3N4) the MO degradation rate is achieved, such as 40%, 60%, 80%, and 90%, respectively. Additionally, the main areas of investigation are the photo-degradation of MO dye and the photo-catalytic mechanism.

Keywords: Photo-catalysis, degradation, Methyl Orange (MO), g-C3N4, visible light