Identification of Active Species in Photodegradation of Aqueous Imidacloprid over g-C3N4/TiO2 Nanocomposites
Issued Date
2022-02-01
Resource Type
eISSN
20734344
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85124358484
Journal Title
Catalysts
Volume
12
Issue
2
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Catalysts Vol.12 No.2 (2022)
Suggested Citation
Kobkeatthawin T., Trakulmututa J., Amornsakchai T., Kajitvichyanukul P., Smith S.M. Identification of Active Species in Photodegradation of Aqueous Imidacloprid over g-C3N4/TiO2 Nanocomposites. Catalysts Vol.12 No.2 (2022). doi:10.3390/catal12020120 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/84109
Title
Identification of Active Species in Photodegradation of Aqueous Imidacloprid over g-C3N4/TiO2 Nanocomposites
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
In this work, g-C3N4/TiO2 composites were fabricated through a hydrothermal method for the efficient photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid (IMI) pesticide. The composites were fabricated at varying loading of sonochemically exfoliated g-C3N4 (denoted as CNS). Complementary characterization results indicate that the heterojunction between the CNS and TiO2 formed. Among the composites, the 0.5CNS/TiO2 material gave the highest photocatalytic activity (93% IMI removal efficiency) under UV-Vis light irradiation, which was 2.2 times over the pristine g-C3N4. The high photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/TiO2 composites could be ascribed to the band gap energy reduction and suppression of photo-induced charge carrier recombination on both TiO2 and CNS surfaces. In addition, it was found that the active species involved in the photodegradation process are OH• and holes, and a possible mechanism was proposed. The g-C3N4/TiO2 photocatalysts exhibited stable photocatalytic performance after regeneration, which shows that g-C3N4/TiO2 is a promising material for the photodegradation of imidacloprid pesticide in wastewater.