DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v27i3.38

Keywords: Silver phosphate; graphitic carbon nitride; photocatalysis; RhB dye; microwave irradiation

Abstract

Silver phosphate – AP; (Ag₃PO₄)/Graphitic carbon nitride – CN; (g-C₃N₄) catalysts are successfully synthesized via a facile solid-state microwave-assisted method under various loadings of g-C₃N₄ and then characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM and UV-Vis DRS analysis. The catalytic activity towards visible-light photodegradation of rhodamine B is of the following order: 10wt% CNAP (95%) > 5wt% CNAP (82%) > silver phosphate (68%) > 15wt% CNAP (54%) > Graphitic carbon nitride (50%). The highest activity of 10wt% CNAP is due to the synergistic impact of C and N in the C₃N₄ has contributed considerably to the highest number of defect sites. These features lowered the band gap energy which induces the charge carrier recombination. Consequently, photogenerated holes play a crucial role in the degradation as proved by a scavenger study. It is believed that the type-II heterojunction of CNAP has effectively achieved and demonstrates an excellent alternative to photocatalytic degradation to encounter most wastewater issues.