Dramatic Activity of C3N4/BiPO4 Photocatalyst with Core/Shell Structure Formed by Self‐Assembly

Core/shell structured C₃N₄/BiPO₄ photocatalyst is fabricated via a facile ultrasonic dispersion method. The thickness of the shell may be controlled by tuning the amount of C₃N₄ in the dispersion, which determines the enhanced level of photocatalytic activity. The optimum photocatalytic activity of C₃N₄/BiPO₄ at a weight ratio of 4% (C₃N₄/BiPO₄) under UV irradiation is almost 4.5 times as high as that of reference P25 (TiO₂) and 2.5 times of BiPO₄. More attractively, the dramatic visible light photocatalytic activity is generated due to the C₃N₄ loaded. The enhancement in performance is demonstrated to be the match of lattice and energy level between the C₃N₄ and BiPO₄. This match facilitates the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron–hole pairs at the heterojunction interfaces and may be important for other core/shell structured materials. In addition, this method is expected to be extended for other C₃N₄ loaded materials.