Green Fluorine-Confined 2D layered Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4) Nanosheets for Electrocatalysts and Photocatalysts toward the Detection and Degradation of Metol Drugs in Wastewater

The "To carry two faces under one hood" technique is used in this article to study how hazardous environmental contaminants are removed by photocatalysis and electrochemistry. By the thermal decomposition approach, nanosheets of F-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) are synthesized using varying weight percentages of NH4F (1, 2, and 3 wt %). Various characterization techniques are applied to study the physiochemical properties of the synthesized F/g-C3N4 nanosheets. The electrochemical characteristics of F/g-C3N4 nanosheets are investigated by decorating a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) with F/g-C3N4 and successfully utilizing it for the detection of the organic water effluent metol. F/g-C3N4 exhibits excellent sensitivity, stability, repeatability, and reproducibility toward the detection of metol with a lower limit of detection (7.483 nM) in the linear range of 0.2–40 μM. The real-time potential application of the decorated electrode for the detection of metol in various real water samples shows excellent recovery percentages. F/g-C3N4 (2 wt %) has a lower band gap with better charge-transfer properties when compared to bulk g-C3N4 and F/g-C3N4 (1 and 3 wt %). A higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 80% is obtained within a short treatment time (60 min) using F2/g-C3N4. The visible light-assisted metol degradation process follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. Moreover, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis further validates the degradation response and proposes potential degradation pathways. Investigating the toxicity of the treated water using green gram seeds shows that the treated water is safe to consume and does not contain any toxins. In this respect, F/g-C3N4 nanosheets are outstanding electrophotocatalytic materials that are extremely effective and have a wide range of applications.