This paper reports the photodegradation of Rh 6G dye using g-C3N4 (g-CN) nanosheet photocatalyst under UV light. The g-C3N4 nanosheets were synthesized by a simple pyrolysis method at 450◦C for 3 h at a heating rate of 2◦C/min. Its structural phase, functional group, surface area, optical properties, elemental composition, and morphology were investigated by XRD, BET, UV-Vis, photoluminescence spectroscopies, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, SEM microscopy. Tri-s-triazine structure of g-C3N4 was confirmed and the crystal size is calculated to be 5 nm. The g-C3N4 was obtained with nanosheet morphology with the BET area of 8 m2/g. C-N stretching and s-triazine units were observed from FTIR spectrum. The photoluminescence (PL) emission maxima at 432 nm provided the band edge emission related to the band gap of 2.9 eV. Its PL lifetime was 7.6 ns that is reasonably high photocatalytic application. Through C1s XPS spectrum, sp2-hybridized carbon linkage N-C=N in the aromatic skeleton rings such as triazine or heptazine rings of g-C3N4 was found. Photocatalytic characteristics were studied on Rh-6G dye using UV light illumination. Initially, the Rh-6G dye concentration and catalyst (g-C3N4) loading were optimized for the best dye degradation to be 0.01 mmol and 50 mg, respectively. The maximum efficiency of g-C3N4 was 99.6% in 300 minutes to degrade the Rh-6G dye. Lower charge transfer resistance was found to be the reason the enhanced photodegradation activity. The most dominant reactive species that participated in the light active reaction was superoxide radicals. The influence of pH on photodegradation was studied and it performed better in the acidic pH range. The g-C3N4 was highly cyclable for repeated use in many cycles of photocatalysis and structurally stable.

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