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Synthesis and characterization of g-C3N4@ZrO2 composites through calcination method for enhanced photocatalytic activities

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Abstract

A series of g-C3N4@ZrO2 composites with a porous structure are synthesized by mixing MOF-808 precursor and melamine by thermal decomposition in air. The catalyst demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity in the degrading of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and rhodamine B (RhB) dyes under visible light. The degradation of CIP by the catalyst corresponds to first-order kinetics and CZ-100 has the best degradation property, and almost nearly degrades RhB within 50 min. Radical trapping experiments indicated that ·O2– and h+ were the main factors to the degrading of RhB. According to the relevant literature, the possible ways of CIP degradation are proposed, the intermediate reaction products in the photocatalytic degradation process are analyzed, and the photoelectrochemical properties of the materials are investigated by characterization techniques such as photoluminescence emission spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance. The main reason of catalytic performance improvement is to facilitate electron and hole effective separation, and finally the probable photocatalytic mechanism of g-C3N4@ZrO2 is suggested. After 5 cycle experiments, the degradation rate of the material still reached more than 85%. It shows that g-C3N4@ZrO2 has good photocatalytic stability and repeatability, and has broad application prospects in water pollution control.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22072038), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Education Committee, China (D20213102) and Graduate Student Innovation Research Foundation of Hubei Normal University (2022057).

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22072038); the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Education Committee, China (D20213102); Graduate Student Innovation Research Foundation of Hubei Normal University (2022057).

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  1. Yun Yang and Yingxin Zhao contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Hanjiang Normal University, Shiyan, 442000, People’s Republic of China

    Yun Yang

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Pollutant Analysis and Reuse Technology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, 435002, People’s Republic of China

    Yingxin Zhao, Hao Hu, Xiongjian Li & Shuijin Yang

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by YY, YZ, HH, XL and SY. The first draft of the manuscript was co-authored by  YY and YZ and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shuijin Yang.

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Yang, Y., Zhao, Y., Hu, H. et al. Synthesis and characterization of g-C3N4@ZrO2 composites through calcination method for enhanced photocatalytic activities. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 946 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10422-w

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