Diverse fabrication routes for sulphur-assisted graphitic carbon nitride for contaminant degradation through solar energy

Abstract

Advanced industrialization and globalization have conduct to extensive energy and pollution emergencies, demanding the growth for novel solutions. The release of synthetic dyes as industrial waste has emerged as a global environmental challenge. Large quantities of these dyes are discharged into wastewater each year, posing serious risks due to their toxic and harmful effects. Semiconductor’s materials have emerged as a sustainable and green remediation solution for contaminant degradation. Among various materials, graphitic carbon nitride stands out as an extensively investigated material due to ease fabricated and low cost. In this study, sulphur-incorporated graphitic carbon nitride was fabricated for photocatalytic. In this study, sulphur-assisted graphitic carbon nitride was fabricated for photocatalytic activity. Several fabrication routes were employed, including thermal polymerization, sonication, chemical oxidation, and stepwise thermal polymerization. The material was characterized, and its photocatalytic activity was evaluated for methylene blue dye degradation. The fabricated trials exhibited 2.79 eV, 2.72 eV, 2.82 eV, and 2.56 eV band gap energies, with, 67%, 70%, 75%, and 99.5% pollutants degradation activity, respectively. The trial fabricated with chemically oxidation route attributed higher photocatalytic activity (99.5%, in 50 min) with the reaction rate constant (K = 0.069). The aforementioned results and measurements are supported by UV–vis diffuse reflectance, signifying bandgap energy, XRD for structural and SEM for morphological and EDX for elemental qualitative analysis. The chemical oxidation route shows an effective method for the synthesis of sulphur-assisted graphitic carbon nitride. This novel approach has the potential to advance fabrication techniques within the scientific community.

Graphical abstract