TiO₂/g-C₃N₄ Binary Composite as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Biodiesel Production from Jatropha Oil and Dye Degradation

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In the present work, TiO₂/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites were synthesized by using highly crystalline TiO₂ nanorods/rice (NRs) and various percentages of g-C₃N₄ via a facile, scalable, and inexpensive pyrolysis method. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by various techniques, e.g., X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), N₂ adsorption and desorption analysis (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronoamperometry (CA). It was found that biodiesel production by the esterification reaction can be remarkably enhanced by coupling TiO₂ with g-C₃N₄; hereby, it was observed that with increasing percentage of g-C₃N₄ from 5 to 10 and 15% with respect to TiO₂ NRs, the photocatalytic activity rose and the maximum photocatalytic activity with 97% conversion was observed for NC-3, i.e., 15% g-C₃N₄/TiO₂. Moreover, the photoactivity of pristine TiO₂ NR aggregates was contrasted with their nanoparticle morphology and was estimated to be slightly better. When applied for photocatalytic Congo red dye degradation, this sample showed a 91% degradation efficiency using only a very small amount of the catalyst. The high catalytic efficiency is attributed to the narrow band gap, exceptionally high surface area, and efficient charge separation properties of the prepared catalysts.