Author(s): Bhagwat M Fulmante and Waghmare Vaibhav Sanjiv

Abstract: Solar photocatalysis represents a viable low-cost solution to decentralized water purification, but the traditional photocatalysts are still subject to UV-activation and recombination of charge-carriers. In this work, a green-synthesized, defect-engineered heterojunction is suggested: oxygen-vacancy-rich TiO 2 -x is used together with porous g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets (PCN), to allow the removal of both dyes (methylene blue, rhodamine B) and pathogens (E. coli, S. aureus) upon solar power. The TiO 2 is formed and defects created through a plant-polyphenol pathway, which is then combined at low temperature with PCN to enhance harvesting of visible light and transfer of charge at the interface. The optimized composite (TiO 2-x/PCN-3) was found to be 95-99% in dye decolorization (pseudo-first-order kinetics) and >5-log bacteria inactivation under simulated sunlight (AM 1.5G) which was better than pristine TiO 2 and PCN controls. Scavenger experiments suggest that the oxidation of dye is predominantly affected by the presence of the radicals, which are: O 2 - and OH, whereas the attack on the membrane by ROS is controlling the activation of bacteria. The cost analysis alone indicates that the platform could be used in low resource deployment using immobilized films or coated substrates.

DOI: 10.22271/27078221.2026.v7.i1b.109

Pages: 107-115 | Views: 30 | Downloads: 14

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