Effect of MXene Loaded on g-C 3 N 4 Photocatalyst for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue

Muhammad Syahmi Irfan Nasri, Mohamad Fakhrul Ridhwan Samsudin, Asif Ali Tahir and Suriati Sufian
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Muhammad Syahmi Irfan Nasri: Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Mohamad Fakhrul Ridhwan Samsudin: Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Asif Ali Tahir: Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, Cornwall, UK
Suriati Sufian: Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Photocatalytic degradation is one of the environmentally friendly methods used in treating dye wastewater. In this study, a series of MXene/g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure photocatalysts with different loading amounts of MXene (1, 4, 8, and 12 wt.%) were successfully synthesized via the wet impregnation method and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated via the degradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation. As such, the 1 wt.% MXene/g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure photocatalyst achieved a high degradation of methylene blue compared to the pure g-C 3 N 4 under visible-light illumination of 180 min. This significant improvement was attributed to the intimate interfacial contact, evidently from the FESEM analysis, which allows the smooth photocharge carriers to transport between g-C 3 N 4 and MXene. Additionally, the larger BET surface area demonstrated by the 1 wt.% MXene/g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure allowed this sample to have higher adsorption of dye molecules and provided a higher number of reactive sites, which was beneficial for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity. Nevertheless, it was found that the excessive loading of MXene can substantially impede photocatalytic activity. This was attributed to the decrease in the active sites, as well as the weakened crystallinity of the MXene/g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure photocatalyst, evident from the FTIR and XRD analysis. All in all, this study has shown the potential of the MXene/g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst as a promising photocatalyst for highly efficient wastewater treatment applications.

Keywords: graphitic carbon nitride; MXene; degradation; methylene blue; wastewater (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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