Carbon nitride impregnated non-woven jute post-industrial waste in photocatalytic degradation of textile dyes

Textile dye effluents and textile waste disposal represent two significant environmental challenges. Here, we present possible combined solution for both. Urea-derived graphitic carbon nitride g-C₃N₄ is thermally exfoliated to nano n-C₃N₄. Both obtained materials are characterized in detail, and their photocatalytic efficacies in photodegradation of three textile azo dyes under simulated solar light irradiation are compared. n-C₃N₄ exhibited superior performance over g-C₃N₄ under given experimental conditions. Novelty of the work is the subsequent usage of the non-woven jute post-industrial waste as a photocatalyst support. It was shown that NW jute impregnated with n-C₃N₄ can be successfully used in three consecutive photocatalytic cycles, keeping high photodegradation efficacy (~ 90% in the case of Acid Orange 7, and 55% in the case of Acid Blue 113). Additionally, possibility of usage of NW jute post-industrial waste as textile dye sorbent is presented in the case of Basic Yellow 28.