from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
In this work, we present an advanced preparation method, of photoactive layered graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) incorporated into the silica structure containing zinc ions. This new nanocomposite has enhanced sorption properties and photocatalytic activity due to presence of g-C3N4. Samples with 20 wt.% and 10 wt.% of g-C3N4 were prepared and successfully tested. Specific surface area of nanocomposites was increased from 36 m2/g of pure carbon nitride g-C3N4 to 366 and 320 m2/g of functional composites respectively. The material was prepared by vigorous stirring of aqueous solution of zinc acetate and g-C3N4 within ultrasonic field of power density of 1 kW/L. During the sonication, sodium water glass was added at once to synthesize ZnO-m·SiO2 nanoparticles by precipitation reaction. The dispersion was then rapidly frozen and subjected to vacuum freeze-drying process to obtain powder material, which is easier to handle and more suitable for tests. Prepared nanocomposites were subjected to tests of sorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye. Furthermore, samples did undergo four successful cycles of sorption of methylene blue with starting concentration of 1 mg/L followed by photocatalytic regeneration. The sorption capacity of sample with 20 wt.% of g-C3N4 was 0.21 mg/g and after the fourth cycle of regeneration it was restored to 75 % of its original value. The sorption capacity of sample with 10 wt.% of g-C3N4 was 0.18 mg/g and after fourth cycle of regeneration it was restored to 90 % of its original value.
Keywords: Photocatalysis, photocatalytic regeneration, sorption, nanoparticles, graphitic carbon nitride© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.