Titania with Alkaline Treated Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C₃N₄) to Improve Photocatalysis Properties

The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) was treated via alkaline hydrothermal treatment to change the porous structure of g-C₃N₄ to "tube-like" structure. The developed alkaline treated g-C₃N₄ (A-g-C₃N₄) was combined with P25 Degussa TiO₂ for the competent removal of methylene blue (MB). The morphological changes increased the crystallite size and pore size of g-C₃N₄, causing a decrease in the specific surface area of A-g-C₃N₄. The pure g-C₃N₄ demonstrated the best degradation efficiency among the all samples due to its high specific surface area, low band gap energy and small pore size. The combination of both A-g-C₃N₄ and g-C₃N₄ with TiO₂ did not exert significant effect on the degradation efficiency of MB owing to the low specific surface area, high band gap and large pore size. Thus concluding the degradation efficiency of organic dye is attributed predominantly to the factors of energy band gap, specific surface area and pore sizes. (paper)