Graphitic carbon nitride/xylene soot metal-free nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds

Graphitic carbon nitride and soot (g-C3N4/soot) metal-free nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple one-pot thermal synthesis from mixtures of dicyandiamide with different volumes of xylene. The soot nanoparticles of 17.7 +/- 1.7 nm in size were observed on the g-C3N4 surface.The band gap energies of the synthesized nanocomposites decreased from 2.65 eV to 2.53 eV with the increasing content of soot nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/soot nanocomposites to degrade phenol, ofloxacin, and ampicillin under the LED irradiation of 420 nm was investigated. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and trapping experiments indi-cated that photoinduced electrons were accumulated in the soot particles, reacted with oxygen forming super -oxide radicals, which decomposed the organic compounds. The degradation efficiency decreased in the sequence ofloxacin > ampicillin > phenol. The g-C3N4/soot nanocomposites were investigated for the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds for the first time.