Synthesis and characterisation of TiO2/g-C3N4 as photocatalyst for photodegradation of dyes, phenol and caffeine

The g-C3N4 has been reported as a promising candidate for promoting photocatalytic activities by reducing the recombination of electrons and holes. Nanostructured materials titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the best photocatalysts but is restricted due to photo-efficiency and limited light response due to its wide bandgap. The heterostructures improve binding sites' efficiency and provide more active sites for photocatalysis. The heterostructure TiO2/g-C3N4 prepared hydrolysis method and used a certain amount of TiCl4. The samples have been characterised by using FTIR, XRD, SEM, UV-Vis Spectroscopy, BET, and TGA. For photocatalytic activity, the TiO2/g-C3N4 shows better photocatalytic activity and kinetic study compared to g-C3N4 and TiO2 due to the formation of heterojunction. The photocatalytic activity parameters were different dyes and applications. Both methylene blue and caffeine degraded well under UV light irradiation, with methylene blue reaching nearly 100% after 240 minutes and phenol reaching 74.66% after 300 minutes. The mechanism of photodegradation has been thoroughly examined.

Automated summary

The study found that the heterostructure of TiO2/g-C3N4 exhibits better photocatalytic activity and shows advantages in degrading dyes, especially methylene blue and caffeine.