Synthesis, characterization and activity of doped graphitic carbon nitride materials towards photocatalytic oxidation of volatile organic pollutants emitted from 3D printer

A low specific surface area and high rate of electron-hole pairs recombination restrict photocatalytic use of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). In this context, we demonstrated that doping of g-C3N4 may overcome these obstacles. Graphitic carbon nitride doped with iron, manganese, antimony, and bismuth demonstrated the reduced band gap energy, enlarged specific surface area, suppressed recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, and enhanced efficiency of reactive oxygen species formation as well as VOC (volatile organic compounds) degradation due to an improved photoinduced charge carrier separation. Processes being in focus of our studies, described in this paper, involve photocatalytic oxidation of selected volatile organic compounds such as styrene, acetone, and cumene, identified as pollutants emitted from 3D printers in fused filament fabrication technology. Tests in real conditions proved that photocatalytic filtration may successfully limit a hazardous emission of volatile organic compounds from fused thermoplastic filaments.