Graphitic Carbon Nitride as a Sustainable Photocatalyst Material for Pollutants Removal. State-of-the Art,...

Photocatalysis is an attractive strategy for emerging pollutants remediation. Research towards the development of new, efficient and effective catalytic materials with high activity under wide irradiation spectra is a highly active sector in material science. Various semiconductor materials have been employed as photocatalysts, including TiO₂, SrTiO₃, CdS, BiVO₄, Ta₃N₅, TaON, Ag₃PO₄, and g-C₃N₄. The latter is a metal-free, low cost polymer, providing high adsorption and catalytic properties, shown to be promising for photocatalysis applications under visible light. Furthermore, g-C₃N₄ composites are among the most promising advanced photocatalytical materials that can be produced by green synthesis processes. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of g-C₃N₄ applications is reviewed, and application perspectives are discussed. Photocatalysis tests with g-C₃N₄ under Xenon irradiation were performed to gather first-hand information to improve photoreactor design. Xenon light spectrum appears to be a suitable radiation source to replace direct sunlight in engineered pollutants removal processes catalyzed by g-C₃N₄, in lieu of other currently used heterogeneous photocatalysis processes (e.g., TiO₂-UV). LED sources are also very promising due to higher energy efficiency and customizable, catalyzer-specific irradiation spectra.