Efficient Visible Light Active Photocatalyst: Magnesium Oxide-Doped Graphitic Carbon Nitride for the Knoevenagel Condensation Reaction
Dhavalkumar Bhanderi, Pratikkumar Lakhani, Ashita Sharma, Saurabh S. Soni, Chetan K. Modi
Abstract
In the present work, we have developed visible light active photocatalysts by incorporating magnesium oxide (MgO) as a dopant (with varying loadings, viz., 3, 5, and 10%) onto graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets prepared via urea and dicyandiamide as precursors to form MgO@g-C 3 N 4 catalysts. These photocatalysts showed impressive photocatalytic performance in the Knoevenagel condensation reaction using a low-power visible LED light (12 W), surpassing that of pure g-C 3 N 4 . In order to characterize photocatalysts, various techniques have been used, such as FTIR, XRD, XPS, TEM, EIS, UV–vis DRS, and thermogravimetric analysis. Based on this study, the MgO@g-C 3 N 4 catalyst with 5% MgO loading has shown an outstanding performance with 98.53% conversion and 98.98% selectivity. Furthermore, the catalyst showed minimal drop-in activity after five cycles of recyclability. This study highlights MgO@g-C 3 N 4 as a promising and sustainable photoactive material for efficient photocatalytic applications.