Photodegradation Performance of g-C3N4 Fabricated by Directly Heating Melamine

Abstract

The g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst was synthesized by directly heating the low-cost melamine. The methyl orange dye (MO) was selected as a photodegrading goal to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of as-prepared g-C₃N₄. The comparison experiments indicate that the photocatalytic activity of g-C₃N₄ can be largely improved by the Ag loading. The strong acid radical ion (SO₄²⁻ or NO₃⁻) can promote the degrading rate of MO for g-C₃N₄ photocatalysis system. The MO degradation over the g-C₃N₄ is mainly attributed to the photoreduction process induced by the photogenerated electrons. Our results clearly indicate that the metal-free g-C₃N₄ has good performance in photodegradation of organic pollutant.