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The Effect of Bandgap Engineering and Mn3O4-x Nanoparticles Loading On the Optical/Electronic Properties of g-C3N4 Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Applications

Zandy, Elaheh | 2024

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 57237 (07)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Materials Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Madaah Hosseini, Hamid Reza
  7. Abstract:
  8. With the increasing awareness of the environmental issues and universal need to access clean and renewable energy resources, e.g., solar energy, semiconductor photocatalysis has been accepted as an efficient way to utilize light photons in order to perform specific chemical reactions such as pollution degradation, hydrogen production, and CO2 reduction. Among different materials used for photocatalysis, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been proven to be a promising visible-light-driven photocatalyst; but possesses some drawbacks limiting its applications in the field of photocatalysis. In the present study, a novel g-C3N4-based nanocomposite made up of oxygen-doped g-C3N4 and oxygen-vacancy-enriched Mn3O4 has been synthesized through a facile thermal decomposition method and carefully characterized to overcome the problems in the photocatalytic performance of graphitic carbon nitride. The heterojunction and the internal electric field in the interface of the two materials enhanced the charge carrier separation with respect to both g-C3N4 and pristine oxygen-doped g-C3N, with the photocurrent density of the nanocomposite roughly 2 and 3 times improved than those of g-C3N4 and pristine oxygen-doped g-C3N4, respectively. The bandgap of the oxygen-doped g-C3N4 and oxygen-vacancy-enriched Mn3O4 were calculated to be approximately 1.5 eV and 1.4 eV and the light absorption ranges for the materials were clearly expanded to the visible light region; which is beneficial to the light utilization ability of the photocatalyst. The specific surface area of the nanocomposite was obtained from BET analysis to be 224.65 m2/g, representing a remarkable rise with respect to pristine graphitic carbon nitride. Finally, based on different characterization assessments, the band diagram of the heterojunction nanocomposite was acquired and a mechanism for the photocatalytic performance was proposed; which is useful to gain insight in the potential photocatalytic applications of the nanocomposite
  9. Keywords:
  10. Heterojunction Structure ; Oxygen Vacancy ; Photocatalyst ; Bandgap Engineering ; Oxygen Doping ; Graphitic Carbon Nitride ; Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles

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