Photocatalytic activity of TiO2-ZnO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for methylene orange and Rhodamine B dyes removal from water and photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Jieying Liu; Yong Gao; Zhifang Zhang; Rui Dang; Rima Nour El Houda Tiri; MuhammedBekmezci; Ramazan Bayat; Rozhin Darabi; Fatih Sen

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139426

Photocatalytic activity of TiO₂-ZnO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites for methylene orange and Rhodamine B dyes removal from water and photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Chemosphere. 2023 Oct:339:139426. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139426. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

Authors

Jieying Liu¹, Yong Gao², Zhifang Zhang², Rui Dang², Rima Nour El Houda Tiri², MuhammedBekmezci³, Ramazan Bayat⁴, Rozhin Darabi⁵, Fatih Sen⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Yulin University; Yulin, 719000, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Yulin University; Yulin, 719000, China.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Yulin University; Yulin, 719000, China; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Dumlupinar, Evliya Celebi Campus, 43000 Kutahya, Turkiye.
⁴ Sen Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Dumlupinar, 43000 Kutahya, Turkiye; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Dumlupinar, Evliya Celebi Campus, 43000 Kutahya, Turkiye.
⁵ School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, P.O.Box 611731, Xiyuan Ave, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Sen Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Dumlupinar, 43000 Kutahya, Turkiye; SRG Incorporated Company, Kutahya Design & Technopole, Calca OSB Neighbourhood, 43100 Kutahya, Turkiye. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 37467853
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139426

Abstract

In this work, for the removal of azo dyes that cause environmental pollution, TiO₂-ZnO has been modified with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) to form an advanced hetero-linked photocatalyst. With this catalyst, photocatalytic hydrogen production and photodegradation activity against methylene orange (MO) and rhodamineB (RhB) dye removal were studied. The synthesized nanostructure was extensively characterized by several techniques such as XRD, TEM, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectrophotometer (PL) techniques. According to the analysis, a significant increase in the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO₂-ZnO was determined after it was modified with g-C₃N₄ nanostructures. The combination between TiO₂-ZnO and g-C₃N₄ was shown to be responsible for the improvement in photocatalytic activity because it significantly decreased electron-hole recombination. After 90 min the 62.81% of MO dye was removed but at 120 min only 57% of RhB was degraded. In addition, the antibacterial activity of TiO₂-ZnO/g-C₃N₄ catalyst was carried out against gram positive and gram negatif bacteria. The bacterial inhibition (%) of TiO₂-ZnO/g-C₃N₄ catalyst.was found to be 44 % against E. coli and 33 % against at 100 μg/ml concentration. In line with the analyzes obtained with this study, important results have been revealed for the application of photocatalytic methods in more industrial dimensions in the production of hydrogen, which is a valuable energy type.

Keywords: Artificial sunlight; Graphite carbon nitride; Nanoparticle; Photocatalytic hydrogen production; Removal of azo dye.

MeSH terms

Coloring Agents
Escherichia coli
Hydrogen / chemistry
Nanocomposites* / chemistry
Water
Zinc Oxide*

Substances

titanium dioxide
Water
Zinc Oxide
rhodamine B
Coloring Agents
Hydrogen