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Improved visible light response photocatalytic activity of CuWO4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for degradation of organic dyes

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Abstract

In this report, the high performance visible light induced photocatalytic performance of CuWO4/g-C3N4 hybrid was photocatalysts by facile hydrothermal method. The structural order of the obtained catalysts was performed through X-ray diffraction and Raman analysis, which exposed the monoclinic phase (JCPDS Card No. 83-0951). The clear sheet like with wrinkle shape and spherical nanoparticles (30–35 nm) was found to be g-C3N4 and CuWO4 samples, which is obtained by SEM and TEM analysis. The g-C3N4 modified CuWO4 sample showed huge surface area (108 m2 g−1) and high porous nature (32.53 nm), which is identified by BET method. The significant reduction in the band gap (2.91–2.33 eV) and suppress the recombination rate of electron–hole pairs was also identified by UV–Vis absorption and Photoluminescence spectra results. The optimized ratio (3:1) of composite sample (CWG3) displayed high photocatalytic activity of RhB such as huge efficiency (95%), high first order kinetics (is 0.0913 min−1) and long term stability (loss only 3.2). This might be attributed to the coactions between the CuWO4 nanoparticles over the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets. Moreover, slighter reduction in the band gap energy and privilege the reduction to the recombination process of electron–hole pairs are the important factors to enhancing the photocatalytic capability of the composite catalysts.

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Data availability

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

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Vivekanandha College of Technology for Women, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, 637205, India

    V. Rathi

  2. Department of Physics, Nandha Engineering College, Erode, Tamil Nadu, 638502, India

    K. S. Mohan

  3. Department of Science and Humanity, Idhaya Engineering College for Women, Chinnasalem, Tamil Nadu, 606201, India

    R. Sathiyapriya

  4. Department of Chemistry, Kandaswami Kandar’s College, P. Velur, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, 638182, India

    A. Sankar

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VR and KSM—study conceptualization and writing (original draft) the manuscript. RS and AS—data curation, formal analysis and writing (review and editing), and funding acquisition and project administration.

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Rathi, V., Mohan, K.S., Sathiyapriya, R. et al. Improved visible light response photocatalytic activity of CuWO4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for degradation of organic dyes. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1629 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10996-5

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