Influence of temperature and time on structure, physical properties and photocatalytic ability of g-C3N4 synthesized through urea themal polymerization in an air atmosphere

Abstract

In this article, we study the effects of temperature and heating time on the structure, physical properties and photocatalytic activity of the Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) material
which were prepared from urea via a thermal polymerization method in an air atmosphere. Structure and physical properties of synthesized samples were characterized using scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis absorption, and photoluminescence (PL). The results showed that the heating
temperature has a greater effect than time on the structure and physical properties of the g- C3N4 material. The photocatalytic ability of the g-C3N4 nanosheets was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution 10 ppm under the irradiation of the Xenon lamp. The results showed that the g-C3N4 nanosheets synthesized with heating time 2.0 h at 550 oC showed good photocatalytic ability decomposing 94 % of RhB after 3 h of Xenon lamp exposure.