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Effect of g-C3N4 on structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of hexagonal cylinder-like twinned ZnO microcrystals prepared by the hydrothermal method

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Abstract

The effect of g-C3N4 on the structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of ZnO microcrystals under hydrothermal conditions was investigated in this research. The addition of g-C3N4 changed not only the phase composition, but also affect the growth of ZnO crystals, changing the lattice parameter and the transformation of hexagonal cylinder-like twinned ZnO microcrystals (1–2 μm length and 0.5–1 μm diameter) to g-C3N4 amalgamated rice-like ZnO nanostructure (500 nm length and 100 diameter) with type II heterojunction. The optical bandgap was found to be 3.27 and 3.21 eV for pristine ZnO and g-C3N4@ZnO, respectively. Owing to the narrow bandgap (2.7 eV) of g-C3N4, a red shift towards the visible region in optical absorption and a substantial reduction in the optical bandgap was observed for g-C3N4@ZnO heterostructure. Besides, it is also found that g-C3N4@ZnO has significantly higher photocatalytic effect (93 %) on RhB dye degradation than pristine ZnO (70 %) and g-C3N4 (68 %), because it produce a large number of reactive species (·OH and O2•− radicals) by hold-up the recombination of charge carriers via type II heterojunction. This research may be one of the most realistic approaches to developing effective photocatalysts for environmental remediation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641046, India

    T. P. Vijayakumar

  2. Department of Physics, Mar Athanasius College (Autonomous), Kothamangalam, Kerala, 686666, India

    M. D. Benoy

  3. Department of Physics, Laxminarayana Arts and Science College for Women, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, 636705, India

    J. Duraimurugan

  4. Department of Physics, K.S. Rangasamy College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, 637215, India

    G. Suresh Kumar

  5. Department of Physics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636011, India

    S. Shanavas

  6. Department of Energy Science, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636011, India

    P. Maadeswaran

  7. Center for Instrumentation and Maintenance Facility, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636011, India

    P. Maadeswaran

  8. Facultad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad San Sebastián, Bellavista 7, 8420524, Santiago, Chile

    Roberto Acevedo

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Vijayakumar, T.P., Benoy, M.D., Duraimurugan, J. et al. Effect of g-C3N4 on structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of hexagonal cylinder-like twinned ZnO microcrystals prepared by the hydrothermal method. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 24095–24106 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06872-9

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