Mechanistic Characteristics of Surface Modified Organic Semiconductor g-C3N4 Nanotubes Alloyed with Titania

Sim, L.C. and Tan, W.H. and Leong, K.H. and Bashir, M.J.K. and Saravanan, P. and Surib, N.A. (2017) Mechanistic Characteristics of Surface Modified Organic Semiconductor g-C3N4 Nanotubes Alloyed with Titania. Materials, 10 (1). p. 28. ISSN 1996-1944, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10010028.

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Abstract

The visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA) was investigated using the binary composite of alkaline treated g-C3N4 (HT-g-C3N4) deposited over commercial TiO2 (Evonik Degussa GmbH, Essen, Germany). The existence and contribution of both TiO2 and g-C3N4/HT-g-C3N4 in the composite was confirmed through various analytical techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis-DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. The results showed that the titania in the binary composite exhibited both pure rutile and anatase phases. The morphological analysis indicated that the spongy "morel-like" structure of g-C3N4 turned to nanotube form after alkaline hydrothermal treatment and thereby decreased the specific surface area of HT-g-C3N4. The low surface area of HT-g-C3N4 dominates its promising optical property and effective charge transfer, resulting in a deprived degradation efficiency of BPA two times lower than pure g-C3N4 The binary composite of HT-g-C3N4/TiO2 exhibited excellent degradation efficiency of BPA with 2.16 times higher than the pure HT-g-C3N4. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly due to the promising optical band gap structure with heterojunction interface, favorable specific surface area, and good charge separation.

Item Type:	Article
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	TiO2; g-C3N4; visible light; alkaline hydrothermal; Bisphenol A (BPA)
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Engineering
Depositing User:	Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2018 03:22
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2018 03:22
URI:	http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/19022

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