Superior photocatalytic degradation performance for gaseous toluene by 3D g-C₃N₄-reduced graphene oxide gels

Abstract Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major gaseous pollutants and one of the main causes of environmental problem, which can be extremely harmful to human health. Previous research has shown that photocatalytic oxidation is regarded as a promising technology to remove VOCs. However, for the time being, the photocatalytic performance in the field of removing VOCs by multiple reported photocatalysts cannot meet the demand of the practice. In this study, we have successfully synthesized a series of 3D gel composites with g-C3N4 (GC) and graphite oxide as precursors by a simple hydrothermal and freeze-drying method, which shows good photocatalytic degradation performance for gas toluene as model VOCs. The highest photocatalytic degradation ratio for gaseous toluene is about 86% in 180 min, which is about 3 times that of pure GC. The reason for the results is due to the strong adsorption capacity and very fast electrical conductivity of three dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (RGO). This study implies that the 3D GC-RGO gels have potential usefulness for removing VOCs to meet the demand of the practice.