Visible-light-driven activity and synergistic mechanism of TiO 2 @g-C 3 N 4 heterostructured photocatalysts fabricated through a facile and green procedure for various toxic pollutants removal
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Heterostructured photocatalysts based on g-C 3 N 4 and TiO 2 represent a promising kind of photocatalyst in environmental fields, but the synthesis methods are always complex and not green. In the present paper, a facile and green one-step calcination procedure at lower temperature (450 °C) with the assistance of water is developed to synthesize a visible-light-active TiO 2 @g-C 3 N 4 heterostructured photocatalyst, which shows higher visible-light-driven activity ( k = 0.014 min −1 ) than pure g-C 3 N 4 ( k = 0.0036 min −1 ) and TiO 2 ( k = 0.0067 min −1 ) for methyl orange degradation. Excellent performance (over 90% conversion) was also observed for the removal of rhodamine B, phenol, and Cr(VI) under visible light. The heterostructured photocatalyst showed favorable reusability, preserving 86% of its activity after five successive cycles. A mechanism study demonstrates that the enhanced photocatalytic activity results from the efficient separation of the photo-generated charge carriers through the intimate interface between the two semiconductors based on their appropriate band structures and light-induced mechanism. The heterostructured photocatalyst will certainly find wide applications in the treatment of various toxic pollutants in wastewater using abundant solar energy. Furthermore, this facile and green procedure and the proposed synergistic mechanism will provide guidelines in designing other g-C 3 N 4 based organic–inorganic composite photocatalysts for various applications.
Source: Nanotechnology
Authors: Gang Xiao, Shengnan Xu, Peifeng Li, Haijia Su
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2802000670