S-doped g-C3N4 for fluorescence sensing of Fe3 + and photocatalytic dye degradation under solar light
Vattakkoval Nisha, Saranya C. Sasi, Retheesh Krishnan, Anjali Paravannoor, Shajesh Palantavida, Steven J. Hinder, Suresh C. Pillai, Baiju Kizhakkekilikoodayil Vijayan
Abstract
Sulfur doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets were synthesized via polycondensation reaction of urea-thiourea mixture. Structure and morphology were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscope), and XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). DRS (diffuse reflectance spectroscopy), PL (Photoluminescence spectroscopy) and time-resolved fluorescence decay spectra were used to study the optical characteristics. The photocatalytic dye degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of as-synthesized catalysts was investigated with the help of a UV–visible spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic activity of carbon nitride prepared from urea-thiourea mixture is almost three times higher than that of the pure sample. The detection of Fe3+ was also investigated by using the fluorescence sensing method. The as-synthesized samples hold greater selectivity and sensitivity for fluorescence sensing of Fe3+within a range of 0–3 µM. This range is comparable to the performance of other Fe3+ fluorescent probes previously reported.