Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants is one of the most promising strategies for addressing environmental issues associated with wastewater from textile and other dyeing industries. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has emerged as a prospective visible-light photocatalyst in this field due to its various advantages. However, pristine g-C3N4 often exhibits limited activity. To enhance the performance of g-C3N4, alkali metal ion doped g-C3N4 was prepared using a simple one-step thermopolymerization method. Characterization and analysis of the samples revealed that the obtained doped photocatalysts exhibited enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation activity. This is attributed to its increased specific surface area, which provides more active sites, extended visible-light absorption, reduced bandgap, and more efficient electron transfer. Notably, due to the optimal adjustment of microstructure and electronic structure, K+ doped g-C3N4 demonstrated the highest photocatalytic performance with a degradation rate of 89.1%, significantly surpassing the efficiency of pristine g-C3N4 (72%). These results demonstrated that the approach of alkali metal ion incorporation in g-C3N4 has potential in fabricating high-performance photodegradation for organic pollutant removal.

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