title: In situ synthesis of water-soluble magnetic graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst and its synergistic catalytic performance.
abstract: Water-soluble magnetic-functionalized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) composites were synthesized successfully by in situ decorating spinel ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles on g-C3N4 sheets (CN-ZnFe) through a one-step solvothermal method. The magnetic properties of CN-ZnFe can be effectively controlled via tuning the coverage density and the size of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles. The results indicate that the CN-ZnFe exhibits excellent photocatalytic efficiency for methyl orange (MO) and fast separation from aqueous solution by magnet. Interestingly, the catalytic performance of the CN-ZnFe is strongly dependent on the loading of ZnFe2O4. The optimum activity of 160CN-ZnFe photocatalyst is almost 6.4 and 5.6 times higher than those of individual g-C3N4 and ZnFe2O4 toward MO degradation, respectively. By carefully investigating the influence factors, a possible mechanism is proposed and it is believed that the synergistic effect of g-C3N4 and ZnFe2O4, the smaller particle size, and the high solubility in water contribute to the effective electron-hole pairs separation and excellent photocatalytic efficiency. This work could provide new insights that g-C3N4 sheets function as good support to develop highly efficient g-C3N4-based magnetic photocatalysts in environmental pollution cleanup.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , P.O. Box 1126, 230031 Hefei, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shouwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiaxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Meiyi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Guixia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jinzhang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wenping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xiangke
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang