Facile Synthesis of g-C₃N₄ Nanosheets/ZnO Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity in Reduction of Aqueous Chromium(VI) under Visible Light.
Graphitic-C₃N₄ nanosheets (CN)/ZnO photocatalysts (CN/ZnO) with different CN loadings were successfully prepared via a simple precipitation-calcination in the presence of exfoliated C₃N₄ nanosheets. Their morphology and structure were thoroughly characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). The results showed that hexagonal wurzite-phase ZnO nanoparticles were randomly distributed onto the CN nanosheets with a well-bonded interface between the two components in the CN/ZnO composites. The performance of the photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction indicated that CN/ZnO exhibited better photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO under visible-light irradiation and the photocatalyst composite with a lower loading of CN sheets eventually displayed higher activity. The enhanced performance of CN/ZnO photocatalysts could be ascribed to the increased absorption of the visible light and the effective transfer and separation of the photogenerated charge carriers.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. yuanxy@cqjtu.edu.cn.
Xiaoya
X
Yuan
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. zczc6@126.com.
Chao
C
Zhou
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. jingqy1991@sina.com.
Qiuye
Q
Jing
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. tangqi99@163.com.
Qi
Q
Tang
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China. myh25@cquc.edu.cn.
Yuanhua
Y
Mu
Chongqing Academy of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401123, China. castduke@163.com.
An-Ke
AK
Du
ZnO; aqueous Chromium(VI); graphitic C3N4 nanosheets; photoreduction; visible light