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

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Abstract

The development of an efficient and photostable heterostructured photocatalyst has attracted a great deal of attention for the degradation of organic pollutants under visible light. Herein, we have developed a highly efficient graphitic carbon nitride/zinc oxide/iron oxide (g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe2O3) ternary composite photocatalysts that were prepared by a simple and cost-effective calcination method. The crystalline structure, functional groups, morphological and optical properties of the as-prepared g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe2O3 (GZF) ternary composite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis diffuse-reflectance spectroscopic techniques. The GZF composite reveals enhanced methylene blue (MB) degradation with good photostability of 100% retention rate even after 5 cycles under visible light irradiation. Moreover, GZF composite was degraded 94% of MB after 120 min under visible light irradiation which was almost 6.6- and 3.1-fold higher than individual g-C3N4 (GCN) and g-C3N4/ZnO (GZ). The results suggest that the composites of g-C3N4 with metal oxide under visible light significantly enhance the electron transfer process.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Thiruvalluvar Government Arts College, Rasipuram, 637401, India

    K. Shanthini & V. Manivannan

  2. Department of Chemistry, Padmavani Arts & Science College for Women, Salem, 636011, India

    K. Shanthini

  3. Department of Chemistry, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, 641014, India

    K. M. Govindaraju

  4. Department of Chemistry, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Tirupattur, 635601, India

    V. Collins Arun Prakash

  5. Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, AC College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India

    G. S. Lekshmi

  6. Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    R. Govindan

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  1. K. Shanthini
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  2. V. Manivannan
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Contributions

Conceptualization: [KS,VM]; Methodology: [KS,VCAP,KMG]; Formal analysis and investigation: [RG,GSL]; Writing—original draft preparation: [RG]; Writing—review and editing: [RG,GSL], Resources: [GSL], Supervision: [VM].

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Correspondence to V. Manivannan, G. S. Lekshmi or R. Govindan.

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Shanthini, K., Manivannan, V., Govindaraju, K.M. et al. Fabrication of highly efficient g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe2O3 ternary composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 15393–15407 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08447-8

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