Synthesis of ZnO, g-C3N4 and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite and their photocatalytic activity under vilsible light irradiation

Anh Nguyen Thi Tu, Lan Nguyen Huong, Tuan Vu Anh

Abstract


ZnO, C3N4 and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite were prepared for degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The obtained samples were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm and Ultraviolet–Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results showed that the ZnO/g-C3N4 composite had a lower surface area and pore volume than ZnO and g-C3N4. The bandgap energy of ZnO/g-C3N4 composite was 3.20 eV showing a slight decrease with that of pure ZnO (3.21 eV).  The degradation of MB on g-C3N4 was higher than those of ZnO and ZnO/g-C3N4composite in initial 40 min, but its degradation reaction rate was lower than those of ZnO and ZnO/g-C3N4composite in 90 min. As the result, the ZnO/g-C3N4composite exhibited the highest degradation efficiency (93.2 %) among the prepared samples. In addition, the effect of molar ratio of ZnO:g-C3N4 on photocatalytic activity and photocatalytic mechanism under visible light was investigated. The remarkable improvement photocatalytic activity of ZnO/g-C3N4composite could be attributed to reduced recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs by the presence of g-C3N4 in the composite.

Keywords


ZnO/g-C3N4 composites; visible light; photocatalysis; quencher; methylene blue

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.51316/jca.2020.034

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