Synthesis of phthalocyanine/C3N4 structures and investigation of photocatalytic activities in the oxidation reaction of 4-nitrophenol


SAKA E. T., Senocak A., Akkol C.

Journal of Coordination Chemistry, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2024
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/00958972.2024.2400573
  • Journal Name: Journal of Coordination Chemistry
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Metadex
  • Keywords: band gap energy, graphitic carbon nitride, HOMO, LUMO, p-nitrophenol, photocatalytic, Phthalocyanine
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Photocatalytic oxidation is an advanced oxidation technique widely preferred for the removal of pollutants in wastewater. In this work, paramagnetic metallo-phthalocyanines EB2 and EB3 (Co(II)phthalocyanine and Cu(II)phthalocyanine) have been synthesized and characterized. They were interfaced with C3N4 (graphitic carbon nitride) to prepare metallophthalocyanines/C3N4 structures (EB2-C3N4 and EB3-C3N4) using ultrasonic methods. New structures were identified with FT-IR, SEM and TGA. The photocatalytic performances of EB2-C3N4 and EB3-C3N4 for reaction with p-nitrophenol (p-NP) were established. The product selectivity for industrially important benzaldehyde was 85.1% for EB2-C3N4 and 80.6% for EB3-C3N4. EB2-C3N4 showed good potential for p-NP photocatalyic oxidation with high turn-over number (TON) and turn-over frequency (TOF) (390 and 1565) over 15 min. Upon excitation of EB2-C3N4 and EB3-C3N4 with light, 4-nitrophenol was easily reduced to hydroquinone, prompted by electron transfer from C3N4 to phthalocyanine and from phthalocyanine to 4-nitrophenol. Computational investigations were used to determine the energies of the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO) of EB2, EB3 and C3N4.