High photosensitization activity of g-C3N4 intercalated ZnS nanocrystal for textile dye degradation

The g-C₃N₄/ZnS nanocomposite material was developed through a wet chemical synthesis process which combined graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) with Zn(NO₃)₂.6H₂O to overcome ZnS drawbacks including its large bandgap and fast electron-hole recombination. Scientific analysis of the final materials used X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy for structural, morphological and optical characterization. The efficient construction of a heterojunction between g-C₃N₄ and ZnS elements was enabled by optimizing the g-C₃N₄ concentration which produced better
photocurrent response and improved charge separation. Photocatalytic performance of 3 wt% g-C₃N₄/ZnS nanocomposite surpassed all other samples by obtaining 93.0 % MO decomposition using simulated sunlight in 90-minute timeframe. The exceptional efficiency level exceeds numerous previously documented ZnS-based systems which shows that this composite has strong potential for wastewater treatment of organic pollutants. The observed high efficiency in these wastewater treatment systems involves organic pollutants due to the superior performance of the 3 wt% g-C₃N₄/ZnS nanocomposite.