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One-step hydrothermal synthesis of Fe3O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic activities

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Abstract

The nanocomposites of g-C3N4 supported by Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4/g-C3N4) have been fabricated through a simple hydrothermal route in a water–ethanol system. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The results showed that g-C3N4 nanosheets were decorated randomly by Fe3O4 nanoparticles with average diameters of 7 nm. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated in terms of the efficiencies of photodecomposition of Rhodamine B in aqueous solution under visible light illumination. The as-synthesized Fe3O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites showed unprecedented photodecomposition efficiency compared with pure g-C3N4 under visible-light. The Fe3O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic activities would have a great potential in removing organic dyes from polluted water.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51202092, and 51372103), and the financial support from sponsored by Qing Lan Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohua Jia, Rongrong Dai & Xiangyang Wu

  2. Institute of Polymer Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Yali Sun & Haojie Song

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  1. Xiaohua Jia
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  2. Rongrong Dai
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Correspondence to Xiaohua Jia.

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Jia, X., Dai, R., Sun, Y. et al. One-step hydrothermal synthesis of Fe3O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic activities. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 27, 3791–3798 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-4224-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-4224-4

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