AUTHOR=Alkorbi Ali S. , Gill Nouman , Anjum Muhammad Naveed , Saif Muhammad Jawwad , Ahmad Mirza Nadeem , Qadir Muhammad Bilal , Khaliq Zubair , Faisal Mohd , Jalalah Mohammed , Harraz Farid A. 

TITLE=Green ternary composite of graphitic carbon nitride/TiO2/ polyorthoanisidine for the enhanced photocatalytic treatment of Direct Red 28 for industrial water treatment solutions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1411980

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2024.1411980

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Industrial dye effluent causes significant risks to the environment. The present study was focused on photocatalytic degradation of the dye Direct Red 28 using a ternary composite of graphitic carbon nitride, TiO<sub>2</sub>, and polyorthoanisidine (g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA), prepared by <italic>in-situ</italic> oxidative polymerization <italic>o-</italic>anisidine. The synthesized composite g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA properties were characterized using different analytical techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed the prominent pattern of TiO<sub>2</sub> and g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> in the composite peak at 2θ° while Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results provided the confirmation peaks for g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA and POA at 1,110 cm<sup>−1</sup> and 1,084 cm<sup>−1</sup> for C-O-C ether. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated an increase in the average size of the composite up to 428 nm. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) spectrum provided the weight percentages of the C, O, and Ti in the composite were 8.5%, 45.69%, and 45.81%, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of Direct Red 28 dye under UV irradiation using a composite showed that 86% Direct Red 28 dye was degraded by a 30 mg/L dose of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA in 240 min at pH 2. After four consecutive cycles, the utilized composite showed 79% degradation of Direct Red 28, demonstrating the stability and effectiveness of the g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA photocatalyst. The high reusability and efficiency of the g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>/POA composite are due to increased light absorption range and reduced e<sup>−</sup>/h<sup>+</sup> recombination rate in the presence of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> and POA.</p>