Highly Efficient Solar-Light-Active Ag-Decorated g-C3N4 Composite Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Methyl Orange Dye

In this study, we utilized calcination and simple impregnation methods to successfully fabricate bare g-C₃N₄ (GCN) and x% Ag/g-C₃N₄ (x% AgGCN) composite photocatalysts with various weight percentages (x = 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt.%). The synthesized bare and composite photocatalysts were analyzed to illustrate their phase formation, functional group, morphology, and optical properties utilizing XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, PL, FE-SEM, and the EDS. The photodegradation rate of MO under solar light irradiation was measured, and the 5% AgGCN composite photocatalyst showed higher photocatalytic activity (99%), which is very high compared to other bare and composite photocatalysts. The MO dye degradation rate constant with the 5% AgGCN photocatalyst exhibits 14.83 times better photocatalytic activity compared to the bare GCN catalyst. This photocatalyst showed good efficiency in the degradation of MO dye and demonstrated cycling stability even in the 5th successive photocatalytic reaction cycle. The higher photocatalytic activity of the 5% AgGCN composite catalyst for the degradation of MO dye is due to the interaction of Ag with GCN and the localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag. The scavenger study results indicate that O₂^●- radicals play a major role in MO dye degradation. A possible charge-transfer mechanism is proposed to explain the solar-light-driven photocatalyst of GCN.

Femtosecond Laser Irradiation as a Novel Method for Nanosheet Growth and Defect Generation in g-C3N4

Among the many recently developed photo-catalytic materials, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) shows great promise as a catalytic material for water split-ting, hydrogen generation, and related catalytic applications. Herein, synthesized bulk g-C3N4 is simply irradiated under a 35 fs pulse at mixed photon energies (800 nm and its second harmonic). g-C3N4 was synthesized from melamine following a facile thermal polymerization procedure. The prepared material was introduced, in an aqueous environment, to the
femtosecond laser for various lengths of time. The treated material demonstrates a significant increase in surface area, relative to the untreated samples, indicating that irradiation is a successful method for exfoliation. The subsequent characterization reveals that the mixed irradiation process drives significant defect generation and sheet growth, which is not seen under 800 nm irradiation. Extended
mixed irradiation results in 4 nm thick nanosheets with lateral dimensions 4x that of the bulk material. The treated material shows improved dye absorption/removal. This novel method of defect generation and nanosheet growth shows great potential
as a g-C3N4 pre-treatment method for co-catalytic applications.

Data on structural and composition-related merits of gC3N4 nanofibres doped and undoped with Au/Pd at the atomic level for efficient catalytic CO oxidation

Precise design of graphitic carbon nitride (gC₃N₄) nanostructures is of grand importance in different catalytic applications. This article emphasizes additional data on the fabrication of metal-free gC₃N₄ nanofibres (gC₃N₄NFs) and its associated structural and composition analysis compared with Au/Pd co-doped gC₃N₄ nanofibres (Au/Pd/gC₃N₄NFs). The data is including the typical fabrication process of metal-free gC₃N₄ nanofibers and its SEM, TEM, and element mapping analysis beside Raman, and FTIR spectra relative to Au/Pd/gC₃N₄NFs. We also investigated the catalytic CO oxidation durability testes on Au/Pd/gC₃N₄NFs compared to Pd/gC₃N₄NFs and Au/gC₃N₄NFs. The presented data are associated with the research article entitled “Rational synthesis of one-dimensional carbon nitride-based nanofibers atomically doped with Au/Pd for efficient carbon monoxide oxidation.” [1].