TiO/g-CN photocatalyst for the purification of potassium butyl xanthate in mineral processing wastewater.

In the present work, TiO-graphite-phase-carbon-nitride (TiO/g-CN) was prepared through a hydrothermal method to obtain a new photocatalytic material. This material was characterized by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray energy spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Solid-state UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry (UV-Vis-DRS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The synthesized TiO/g-CN exhibited homogeneous morphology, in which TiO nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the g-CN nanosheets. Regarding its potential use as photocatalytic material in the treatment of mineral processing wastewater, 18% TiO/g-CN showed superior photodegradation performance than TiO and g-CN, to give 97.1% degradation rate under 100 min of simulated light irradiation. The experimental results showed that the successful incorporation of TiO on g-CN nanosheets enhanced the spectral response range of TiO/g-CN, and the photocatalytic activity was improved. In view of that, it can be considered that this kind of photocatalytic material has a good prospect in the treatment of mineral processing wastewater, which would have clearly environmental relevance.