Oxygen doped g-C3N4/LDH composite as highly efficient photocatalyst for wastewater treatment

Abstract

Herein, we fabricated a highly efficient oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride (O–CN) and layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocomposite photocatalyst and utilized it in the degradation of organic dyes in wastewater. The composite’s structure, morphology, and different optical features were examined using different techniques such as FT-IR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-EDX, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The composite has shown a crystalline structure, in contrast to the amorphous nature of oxygen-doped g-C3N4. Using a wide range of experimental parameters, including dye concentration, visible light, irradiation time, catalyst dose, contact time, and pH, the increase in the reaction performance of the catalyst was observed. The results reveal that 98.5 % adsorption degradation efficiency increased with the increase in catalyst dosage, contact time, and pH. The as-fabricated photocatalyst generated reactive species that were involved in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye upon exposure to visible light irradiation.