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Design and Fabrication of a Novel Metal-Free SiO2/g-C3N4 Nanocomposite: A Robust Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Organic Contaminants

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials volume 28, pages 268–278 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Development of novel and efficient nanostructured materials for the waste water treatment is a great challenge for the researchers. In this regard, we report a novel SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were tailored via simple solvothermal route and characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, SEM, TEM and XPS. The photocatalytic performances of the as-prepared SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were evaluated for the removal of hazardous rhodamine B (RhB) and crystal violet (CV) organic dyes in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. Interestingly, the UV–Visible spectroscopy results revealed that the as-synthesized SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite showed superior photocatalytic activity for the degradation of RhB and CV dyes could degrade 99 and 98% under visible-light irradiation respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites could be mainly attributed to the proficient separation of photo-induced charge carriers. A plausible degradation mechanism for the controlled visible-light photocatalytic activity of SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites was strongly evidenced by the trapping experiment by employing different scavengers. The present research findings may open up a new platform for the g-C3N4 based photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants.

Graphical Abstract

Proposed degradation mechanism of the SiO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere thanks to the College managing board, Principal and Head of the Department, VHNSN College for providing the necessary research facilities. Finally I thank Padova University, Italy for providing XPS analysis facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, VHNSN College, Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, 626001, India

    K. Prakash, P. Senthil Kumar, P. Latha, K. Saravanakumar & S. Karuthapandian

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  1. K. Prakash
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  2. P. Senthil Kumar
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  3. P. Latha
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  4. K. Saravanakumar
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  5. S. Karuthapandian
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Correspondence to S. Karuthapandian.

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Prakash, K., Kumar, P.S., Latha, P. et al. Design and Fabrication of a Novel Metal-Free SiO2/g-C3N4 Nanocomposite: A Robust Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Organic Contaminants. J Inorg Organomet Polym 28, 268–278 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-017-0715-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-017-0715-5

Keywords

  • SiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite
  • Solvothermal synthesis
  • Visible-light photocatalyst
  • Scavenger