DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v26i2.110

Keywords: Photocatalysis; graphitic carbon nitride; titanium dioxide; RR4 dye

Abstract

The synthesis of a composite material comprising g-C3N4 and TiO2 was effectively achieved through successful sol-gel and hydrothermal techniques, utilizing water as the solvent. The fabrication process involved employing a titanium (IV) butoxide precursor for TiO2 formation, while production of g-C3N4 involved the thermal polymerization of urea. In comparison to both synthesized TiO2 and g-C3N4, the g-C3N4/TiO2 composite performed better under visible light irradiation where it showed outstanding photocatalytic activity using RR4 dye as a model pollutant. 5 % of g-C3N4 composited into TiO2, denoted as TCN5, demonstrated superior performance, exhibiting an optimal rate constant (k) of 0.0920 min-1 when degrading 30 mg L-1 RR4 dye within 1 hour under a 55 W fluorescent lamp. The degradation percentage increased to 99.73%, indicating an improvement that was twice that of TiO2 and four times greater than that of g-C3N4 alone. The synthesized g-C3N4/TiO2 was further studied using a range of analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR), field- emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (FESEM-EDX), elemental mapping analysis, and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), to confirm its structural and optical properties.