Synthesis and characterization of zinc phthalocyanine / mesoporous carbon nitride nanocomposites

In this work, zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) was impregnated onto mesoporous carbon nitride (m-C3N4) to expand its absorption to longer wavelength. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm confirmed that the m-C 3N4 showed type IV of adsorption-desorption isotherm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the presence of both nanosphere and nanoworm structure in the m-C3N4. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the synthesized m-C3N4 was thermally stable until 723 K. The presence of ZnPc on the m-C3N 4 was confirmed from the Xray diffraction (XRD) patterns and diffuse reflectance ultraviolet-visible (DR UV-Vis) spectra. The higher the amount of ZnPc loaded on m-C3N4, the higher the intensity of ZnPc peaks in the diffraction patterns. The successful impregnation of ZnPc onto the m-C3N4 was also supported by the color changing of the solids from yellow to blue, which can be seen as an additional broad band at 500-900 nm from the absorption spectra. Since the material gives visible light absorption, it is expected that the ZnPc/m-C3N4 would be a potential photocatalyst for reactions conducted under visible light irradiation