Effect of thermal treatment on the photocatalytic $\mathbf{TiO}_{2}-\mathbf{g}-\mathbf{C}_{3}\mathbf{N}_{4}$ composites

The up-scaled use of graphitic carbon nitride $\it (g-C_{3}N_{4})$ in environmental processes requires the identification of new strategies to improve its photocatalytic efficiency. Among these, one of the best strategy proved to be the coupling of $g-C_{3}N_{4}$ with wide band gap semiconductors (e.g. titanium dioxide) to form $n-n$ tandem heterojunctions. This paper reports on Vis-active thin film photocatalysts developed by incorporating graphitic carbon nitride as a filler in the titanium dioxide matrix. The influence of the thermal treatment temperature on the photodegradation efficiency of methylene blue and on the stability in the working environment was investigated for the composite thin layers.