Magnetically recoverable highly efficient visible-light-active g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradations of environmental pollutants

Herein, magnetically recoverable g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Ag₂WO₄/AgBr (gCN/M/AgW/AgBr) nanocomposites, as greatly efficient visible-light-active photocatalysts, were fabricated by successive decoration of Fe₃O₄, Ag₂WO₄, and AgBr over g-C₃N₄ (gCN) and they were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, UV–vis DRS, FT-IR, PL, TG, and VSM analysis. Visible-light-induced photocatalytic performances were studied by degradations of RhB, MB, MO, and fuchsine pollutants. It was confirmed that the nanocomposites are effective in the reduction of e^?/h⁺ recombination through the matched interactions between energy bands of gCN, Fe₃O₄, Ag₂WO₄, and AgBr semiconductors. The highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency was observed for the gCN/M/AgW/AgBr (30%) nanocomposite when it was refluxed for 30?min. Activity of this nanocomposite is almost 21, 41, 94, and 10-folds greater than those of the gCN toward the degradations of RhB, MB, MO, and fuchsine pollutants, respectively. Additionally, a mechanism for the superior photocatalytic performances was proposed using reactive species scavenging experiments and characterization results.     

One-pot synthesis of isotype heterojunction g-C3N4-MU photocatalyst for effective tetracycline hydrochloride antibiotic and reactive orange 16 dye removal

The one-pot synthesis of g-C₃N₄-MU isotype heterojunction has been produced by the thermal polycondensation method by mixing different ratios of precursors between melamine and urea. The isotype heterojunction g-C₃N₄-MU samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray-spectroscopy, UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The band-gap energy of these photocatalysts reveals that they can work well under visible light. The photocatalytic performance of the samples was investigated over the photodegradation of reactive orange-16 (RO-16) dye and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) under visible light irradiation. The isotype heterojunction of g-C₃N₄-M6U10 showed the highest degradation of 95 and 85.6% for RO-16 and TC-HCl, respectively under irradiation time of 100 and 120 min. The major reactive species was identified as O₂^–. Moreover, the reusability of the photocatalyst was investigated up to 3 cycles with good efficiency. The present synthesized isotype heterojunction g-C₃N₄-MU could be applied as a facile pathway for synthesis and as an effective pathway to resolve various environmental problems.     

Controlling the charge carriers recombination kinetics on the g-C3N4-BiSI n-n heterojunction with efficient photocatalytic activity in N2 fixation and degradation of MB and phenol

The challenges like the photocatalytic reduction of N₂ and elimination of contaminants from the wastewater are accessible by low cost, stable, and visible-light-driven semiconductor-based photocatalysis. A novel g-C₃N₄/BiSI nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method and applied for the first time in photocatalytic nitrogen fixation and degradation of methylene blue dye and phenol. The physicochemical features of the photocatalysts were studied by XRD, XPS, FTIR, BET, DRS, FESEM, TEM, EDX mapping, PL, EIS, Mott-Schottky, and photocurrent techniques. Experimental results showed that the production of ammonia in the presence of g-C₃N₄/BiSI nanocomposite was 1280 μmol L^?1 g^?1, while this values for g-C₃N₄ and BiSI were 274 μmol g^?1 L^?1 and 126 μmol g^?1 L^?1, respectively. Moreover prepared nanocomposite exhibited a higher rate constant in the MB (537.5 × 10^?4 min^?1) and phenol (353 × 10^?4 min^?1) degradation compared with the counterparts. The charge separation efficiency obviously improved, which was ascribed to the charges migration between g-C₃N₄ and BiSI in an n-n heterojunction system. In addition, high specific surface area and strong visible light absorption were identified as other factors affecting photocatalytic performance. This unique heterojunction photocatalyst has wide application prospects in environmental treatment.     

Constructing BiOBr/g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 Z-scheme photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this work, the novel camellia-structured double Z-scheme BiOBr/g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 was simply prepared by a hydrothermal method. XRD, FTIR,...     

Photocatalytic activities of coke carbon/g-C3N4 and Bi metal/Bi mixed oxides/g-C3N4 nanohybrids for the degradation of pollutants in wastewater

Different g-C₃N₄ composite systems (coke carbon/g-C₃N₄, Bi/Bi₂WO₆/g-C₃N₄ and Bi/Bi₂MoO₆/g-C₃N₄) have been assessed as photocatalysts for wastewater pollutants removal. The coke carbon/g-C₃N₄ hybrid, produced by thermal treatment at 550 °C of a composite made from melamine cyanurate and coke, only showed activity under UV-light irradiation. On the other hand, inorganic Bi spheres/Bi mixed oxides/g-C₃N₄ nanohybrids (Bi/Bi₂WO₆/g-C₃N₄ and Bi/Bi₂MoO₆/g-C₃N₄ composites), produced by thermal reduction of Bi₂WO₆ or Bi₂MoO₆ by g-C₃N₄, exhibited a remarkable red-shift, up to 620 nm, and allowed the visible-light driven degradation of the contaminant, albeit in combination with some adsorption.     

Fly ash cenospheres as multifunctional supports of g-C3N4/N-TiO2 with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and adsorption

The ternary composites of g-C₃N₄/N-TiO₂/FACs (FAC: Fly Ash Cenospheres) were synthesized by an in-situ hydrolysis method to improve the photocatalytic activity and their stability. When TiO₂ was anchored on FAC, it was easily to be separated from the aqueous solution and could be repeatedly utilized. In the present experiments, the degradation rate remained for more than 68% even after the composite reused for seven times. The band gap of g-C₃N₄/N-TiO₂/FAC was 2.75?eV, which might be owing to the synergistic effect between N-TiO₂ and g-C₃N₄. The composite of g-C₃N₄/N-TiO₂/FAC had an ideal activity of 72.2% under visible light illumination for 180?min. It was about 1.3 times of N-TiO₂/FAC and 3.5 times of g-C₃N₄. The synergistic effect of SiO₂, Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂ components resulted to the improvement of photocatalytic performance.     

Photocatalytic performance of oxygen vacancy rich-TiO2 combined with Bi4O5Br2 nanoparticles on degradation of several water pollutants

Despite significant advancements in the improvement of heterogeneous photocatalysis towards water treatment, these processes still have some bottlenecks. In this research paper, oxygen vacancy rich-TiO₂ was combined with Bi₄O₅Br₂ nanoparticles (denoted as TiO₂-OVs/Bi₄O₅Br₂) by eco-friendly hydrothermal approach. The outcomes demonstrated that the photoactivity strongly depends on plenteous active sites, reinforced charge segregation, as well as striking visible-light absorption ability in TiO₂-OVs/Bi₄O₅Br₂ nanocomposite with n-n heterojunction. The photoactivity was found to follow the trend: TiO₂-OVs/Bi₄O₅Br₂ (30%) > TiO₂-OVs > TiO₂. Briefly, the removal efficiencies of RhB, MB, and fuchsine were 100%, 96.2%, and 84.7% using TiO₂-OVs/Bi₄O₅Br₂ (30%) in 120 min, while they were 25.1%, 20.0%, and 15.3% over the TiO₂, respectively. Further, the boosted rate constant was observed for the photoreduction of Cr (VI) on the TiO₂-OVs/Bi₄O₅Br₂ (30%) nanocomposite, which was 19.4 and 7.8-folds more than the TiO₂ and TiO₂-OVs photocatalysts, respectively. The radical scavenging tests with different quenchers demonstrated that holes and superoxide anion radicals take part in the degradation reaction. Finally, by investigating the electrochemical properties, a mechanism was offered to describe the improved e^–/h⁺ pairs separation and migration. This research displayed that the design of n-n heterojunction using TiO₂-OVs could be suitable for severely improving photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ under visible light.     

Nanoarchitectonics of Ag-modified g-C3N4@halloysite nanotubes by a green method for enhanced photocatalytic efficiency

In this study, a facile and cost effective green synthesis has been utilized for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs)–modified graphitic carbon nitride (Ag-g-C₃N₄) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) using Centella Asiatica (L.) extract, urea and mineral source of natural halloysite (HNTs), respectively. Here, silver ions (Ag⁺) were reduced to Ag-NPs using an aqueous Centella Asiatica (L.) as reducing and capping agent. The synthesized Ag-g-C₃N₄@HNTs were characterized by various physiochemical methods such as XRD, FT-IR, BET, SEM, TEM, EDS–mapping, UV–vis-DRS, PL, XPS and EPR methods. In the photocatalytic experiment, Ag-g-C₃N₄@HNTs nanocomposite with silver surface plasmon resonance of Ag-NPs and multi-layer hollow nanotubes was outperformed by the individual components. With an in-depth study on the photocatalytic mechanisms, we can conclude that the enhanced performance of the nanocomposite is due to the effective separation of photogenerated electrons and superoxide radicals (^?O₂^–) in water molecules. The photocatalyst preserved excellent photostability for up to four cycles (with a minor activity reduction from 95% to 91%). These results demonstrated the development of novel semiconductors from inexpensive resources with effective photoactivity to mitigate environmental problems.     

Biosynthesis of mesoporous organic–inorganic hybrid Fe2O3 with high photocatalytic activity

A very simple approach with yeast cells as a biotemplate was proposed to synthesize a mesoporous hybrid Fe₂O₃ photocatalyst. The mesoporous structure of the resultant samples was characterized by BET, N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms (NADI) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The chemical bond linkages in hybrid Fe₂O₃ samples were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR). The catalytic activities of mesoporous hybrid Fe₂O₃ on degradation of methyl orange were investigated under UV-light irradiation. The hybrid Fe₂O₃ (yeast cell amount is 0.6 g) samples dried at 80 °C and calcined at 300 °C exhibit high surface area and photocatalytic activity.     

Novel magnetically separable g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag3PO4/Co3O4 nanocomposites: Visible-light-driven photocatalysts with highly enhanced activity

In this study, a series of novel quaternary g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Ag₃PO₄/Co₃O₄ nanocomposites were fabricated. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, UV-DRS, FT-IR, PL, TG, and VSM methods to gain insight about structure, purity, morphology, optical, thermal, and magnetic properties. Photocatalytic activity of the samples was investigated under visible-light irradiation by degradations of rhodamine B, methylene blue, methyl orange, and phenol as four organic pollutants. The highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency was observed when the sample calcined at 300 °C for 2 h with 20 wt% of Co₃O₄. The photocatalytic activity of this nanocomposite is almost 16.8, 15.7, 4.6, and 5.1 times higher than those of the g-C₃N₄, g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄, g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Ag₃PO₄ (20%), and g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Co₃O₄ (20%) samples in photodegradation of rhodamine B, respectively. Finally, on the basis of the energy band positions, the mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity was discussed.     

In-situ synthesis and characterizations of Bi2(O,S)3/Zn(O,S) composites for visible light hexavalent chromium reduction

Heterojunction construction with low band gap materials is an effective way of utilizing UV light active materials under visible light irradiation. Here, we report the synthesis of Bi₂(O,S)₃/Zn(O,S) heterostructure using simple solvothermal method without surfactant. The catalysts were investigated with different characterization techniques. All the composite catalysts showed high light absorption capacity in the whole visible light spectrum. The catalytic activity of the catalysts was evaluated by Cr(VI) reduction. While pure Zn(O,S) catalyst showed no significant Cr(VI) reduction, higher photocatalytic activity than individual components were exhibited after heterojunction construction with Bi₂(O,S)₃. 20-BiZnOS catalyst with Bi/Zn molar percentage of 20% showed the best photocatalytic activity among the composites with 99.5% Cr(VI) reduction within 12 min under visible light irradiation. Heterojunction formation between Bi₂(O,S)₃ and Zn(O,S) nanoparticle, and selective adsorption of Cr(VI) and desorption of Cr(III) on the surface of 20-BiZnOS composite catalyst were ascribed to the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composite catalyst.     

Ag2CO3 nanoparticles decorated g-C3N4 as a high-efficiency catalyst for photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Visible light-driven Ag2CO3/g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalysts with different weight contents of Ag2CO3 were reported by combining two...     

High performance magnetically recoverable g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag/Ag2SO3 plasmonic photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants

The g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Ag/Ag₂SO₃ nanocomposites have been successfully fabricated by facile refluxing method. The as-obtained products were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, UV–vis DRS, FT–IR, TGA, PL, and VSM techniques. The results suggest that the Ag/Ag₂SO₃ nanoparticles have anchored on the surface of g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite, showing strong absorption in the visible region. The evaluation of photocatalytic activity indicates that for the g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/Ag/Ag₂SO₃ (40%) nanocomposite, the degradation rate constant was 188 × 10^?4 min^?1 for rhodamine B, exceeding those of the g-C₃N₄ (16.0 × 10^?4 min^?1) and g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄ (20.2 × 10^?4 min^?1) by factors of 11.7 and 9.3, respectively. The results showed that the nanocomposite prepared by refluxing for 120 min has the superior photocatalytic activity and its activity decreased with rising the calcination temperature. The trapping experiments confirmed that superoxide ion radical was the main active species in the photocatalytic degradation process. Also, it was demonstrated that the magnetic photocatalyst has considerable activity in degradation of one more dye pollutant. Finally, the reusability of the photocatalyst was evaluated by five consecutive catalytic runs. This work may open up new insights into the utilization of magnetically separable nanocomposites and provide new opportunities for facile fabrication of g-C₃N₄-based plasmonic photocatalysts.     

Facile synthesis of pure BiFeO3 and Bi2Fe4O9 nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In the present work, pure BiFeO3 and pure Bi2Fe4O9 single phases were successfully synthesized by tailoring hydrothermal synthesis route....     

Facile synthesis of Bi2S3 nanocrystalline-modified TiO2: Fe nanotubes hybrids and their photocatalytic activities in dye degradation

Interface-induced effects and large specific area of heteronanostructures are attracting much attention due to applications in photocatalysis. In this work, ultrafine bismuth sulfide (Bi₂S₃) nanocrystalline-modified Fe-doped TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) were fabricated with facile methods. The effect of the ratio of Bi₂S₃ to the Fe-doped TiO₂ NTs on the microstructural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the NTs and hybrids was studied. The NTs showed an actual Fe content of ～ 2.93 at.%. The optical bandgap of the NTs and hybrids was ～2.90 eV and ～2.46–2.88 eV, respectively, and decreased with increasing Bi₂S₃/NTs ratio. The specific surface area of the NTs was ～333 m² · g^?1; whereas the hybrids showed obviously larger specific surface area of ～ 527–689 m² · g^?1 than the NTs because of well-controlled formation process of Bi₂S₃ nanoparticles. The sunlight-excited degradation experiments of dyes in the water indicated that the photocatalytic activity of the hybrids was higher than that of the NTs and increased with increasing Bi₂S₃/NTs ratio. Moreover, the degradation rates of two dyes at different initial pH values were very different. The high photocatalytic activity of the hybrids was mainly ascribed to the narrow bandgap, large specific surface area, and effective heterojunction.     

Fabrication of highly efficient g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe2O3 ternary composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - The development of an efficient and photostable heterostructured photocatalyst has attracted a great deal of attention for the degradation...