Synthesis, Characterization, And Photocatalytic Application of Graphitic Carbon Nitride

Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4) is a polymeric semiconductor with a bandgap of 2.7eV, enabling it to absorb visible light. In this paper, g-C3N4 was synthesized by heating urea and thiourea separately for 2 hours at 5500C in a muffle furnace. The resulting products were named g-C3N4-U and g-C3N4-T, and investigated in terms of their crystal structure, morphology, and optical properties using X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), UV-visible spectrophotometer, and Photoluminescence spectrometer. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements were carried out to further observe the surface area, pore size, and pore volume of the as-prepared samples. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was investigated for pollution removal purposes, and its performance was examined under direct sunlight. The results showed that the urea-derived g-C3N4 exhibited better photocatalytic activity, with complete degradation of the target pollutant within 90 minutes.