Degradation of organic dyes over polymeric photocatalyst C3N3S3

Abstract

Objective: Due to the good visible-light response and strong electron transfer ability, the polymeric semiconductor C3N3S3 was developed as an inspired photocatalyst for the degradation of organic dyes. Methods: Trithiocyanuric acid was used as the raw material for the synthesis of C3N3S3 by hydrolytic method in NaOH-KI mixed solution. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were employed to identify the obtained product. Organic dyes with different characteristics were used to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of C3N3S3. Results: The characterization results revealed that the obtained sample had the stable structure of C3N3S3 polymer with the band gap of 2.67eV, which is one of the characteristics of conductors. The photocatalytic tests showed that C3N3S3 polymer had good photocatalytic activity and adsorption capacity, especially for the cationic dyes. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity was better when the pH value of dyeing solution was 5. Conclusion: Polymeric semiconductor C3N3S3 showed good photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic dyes, which would be one of the most important materials for the environmental remediation and pollution control.