Abstract
High stability and efficient charge separation are two critical factors to construct high-performance photocatalysts. Here, an efficient strategy was provided to fabricate the nanocomposite of graphitic carbon nitride/ferroferric oxide/reduced graphene oxide (g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO). The degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) by g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite exhibited excellent stability and magnetically separable performance. It was ascertained that the quantum efficiency and separation efficiency of photoexcited charge carriers of g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite were obviously improved. Particularly, the g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite with 3 wt.% RGO presented 100% degradation efficiency under visible light irradiation for 75 min. The remarkable photocatalytic degradation activity is attributed to the synergistic interactions among g-C3N4, Fe3O4, and RGO, along with the efficient interfacial charge separation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wang, G. L.; Bi, W. X.; Zhang, Q. M.; Dong, X. L.; Zhang, X. F. Hydrothermal carbonation carbon-based photocatalysis under visible light: Modification for enhanced removal of organic pollutant and novel insight into the photocatalytic mechanism. J. Hazard. Mater. 2022, 426, 127821.
Zhu, Z. H.; Liu, Y. B.; Song, C.; Hu, Y. T.; Feng, G. X.; Tang, B. Z. Porphyrin-based two-dimensional layered metal-organic framework with sono-/photocatalytic activity for water decontamination. ACS Nano 2022, 16, 1346–1357.
Grčić, I.; Puma, G. L. Six-flux absorption-scattering models for photocatalysis under wide-spectrum irradiation sources in annular and flat reactors using catalysts with different optical properties. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2017, 211, 222–234.
Wong, K. T.; Kim, S. C.; Yun, K.; Choong, C. E.; Nah, I. W.; Jeon, B. H.; Yoon, Y.; Jang, M. Understanding the potential band position and e−/h+ separation lifetime for Z-scheme and type-II heterojunction mechanisms for effective micropollutant mineralization: Comparative experimental and DFT studies. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2020, 273, 119034.
Martin, S. S.; Rivero, M. J.; Ortiz, I. Unravelling the mechanisms that drive the performance of photocatalytic hydrogen production. Catalysts 2020, 10, 901.
Zhao, Z. W.; Sun, Y. J.; Dong, F. Graphitic carbon nitride based nanocomposites: A review. Nanoscale 2015, 7, 15–37.
Cao, S. W.; Low, J. X.; Yu, J. G.; Jaroniec, M. Polymeric photocatalysts based on graphitic carbon nitride. Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 2150–2176.
Yang, L.; Bai, X.; Shi, J.; Du, X. Y.; Xu, L.; Jin, P. K. Quasi-full-visible-light absorption by D35-TiO2/g-C3N4 for synergistic persulfate activation towards efficient photodegradation of micropollutants. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2019, 256, 117759.
Kumar, A.; Raizada, P.; Singh, P.; Saini, R. V.; Saini, A. K.; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, A. Perspective and status of polymeric graphitic carbon nitride based Z-scheme photocatalytic systems for sustainable photocatalytic water purification. Chem. Eng. J. 2020, 391, 123496.
Sudhaik, A.; Raizada, P.; Shandilya, P.; Jeong, D. Y.; Lim, J. H.; Singh, P. Review on fabrication of graphitic carbon nitride based efficient nanocomposites for photodegradation of aqueous phase organic pollutants. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 2018, 67, 28–51.
Patnaik, S.; Martha, S.; Madras, G.; Parida, K. The effect of sulfate pre-treatment to improve the deposition of Au-nanoparticles in a gold-modified sulfated g-C3N4 plasmonic photocatalyst towards visible light induced water reduction reaction. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 28502–28514.
Liu, Y. F.; He, M. F.; Guo, R.; Fang, Z. R.; Kang, S. F.; Ma, Z.; Dong, M. D.; Wang, W. L.; Cui, L. F. Ultrastable metal-free near-infrared-driven photocatalysts for H2 production based on protonated 2D g-C3N4 sensitized with Chlorin e6. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2020, 260, 118137.
Wu, J. J.; Zhang, Y. F.; Zhou, J. S.; Wang, K. N.; Zheng, Y. Z.; Tao, X. Uniformly assembling n-type metal oxide nanostructures (TiO2 nanoparticles and SnO2 nanowires) onto P doped g-C3N4 nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic water splitting. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2020, 278, 119301.
Zhao, Z. R.; Zhang, W. Y.; Shen, X. L.; Muhmood, T.; Xia, M. Z.; Lei, W.; Wang, F. Y.; Khan, M. A. Preparation of g-C3N4/TiO2/BiVO4 composite and its application in photocatalytic degradation of pollutant from TATB production under visible light irradiation. J. Photochem. Photobio. A Chem. 2018, 358, 246–255.
Raizada, P.; Thakur, P.; Sudhaik, A.; Singh, P.; Thakur, V. K.; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, A. Fabrication of dual Z-scheme photocatalyst via coupling of BiOBr/Ag/AgCl heterojunction with P and S co-doped g-C3N4 for efficient phenol degradation. Arab. J. Chem. 2020, 13, 4538–4552.
Mirzaei, A.; Yerushalmi, L.; Chen, Z.; Haghighat, F. Photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole by hierarchical magnetic ZnO@g-C3N4: RSM optimization, kinetic study, reaction pathway and toxicity evaluation. J. Hazard. Mater. 2018, 359, 516–526.
Wang, Q.; Zhang, L. X.; Guo, Y. K.; Shen, M.; Wang, M.; Li, B.; Shi, J. L. Multifunctional 2D porous g-C3N4 nanosheets hybridized with 3D hierarchical TiO2 microflowers for selective dye adsorption, antibiotic degradation and CO2 reduction. Chem. Eng. J. 2020, 396, 125347.
Sun, J. Y.; Guo, Y. P.; Wang, Y.; Cao, D.; Tian, S. C.; Xiao, K.; Mao, R.; Zhao, X. H2O2 assisted photoelectrocatalytic degradation of diclofenac sodium at g-C3N4/BiVO4 photoanode under visible light irradiation. Chem. Eng. J. 2018, 332, 312–320.
Hasija, V.; Sudhaik, A.; Raizada, P.; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, A.; Singh, P. Carbon quantum dots supported AgI/ZnO/phosphorus doped graphitic carbon nitride as Z-scheme photocatalyst for efficient photodegradation of 2,4-dinitrophenol. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 2019, 7, 103272.
Singh, P.; Shandilya, P.; Raizada, P.; Sudhaik, A.; Rahmani-Sani, A.; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, A. Review on various strategies for enhancing photocatalytic activity of graphene based nanocomposites for water purification. Arab. J. Chem. 2020, 13, 3498–3520.
Raizada, P.; Kumari, J.; Shandilya, P.; Singh, P. Kinetics of photocatalytic mineralization of oxytetracycline and ampicillin using activated carbon supported ZnO/ZnWO4 nanocomposite in simulated wastewater. Desalin. Water Treat. 2017, 79, 204–213.
Sonu; Dutta, V.; Sharma, S.; Raizada, P.; Hosseini-Bandegharaei, A.; Gupta, V. K.; Singh, P. Review on augmentation in photocatalytic activity of CoFe2O4 via heterojunction formation for photocatalysis of organic pollutants in water. J. Saudi Chem. Soc. 2019, 23, 1119–1136.
Raizada, P.; Sudhaik, A.; Singh, P.; Shandilya, P.; Thakur, P.; Jung, H. Visible light assisted photodegradation of 2,4-dinitrophenol using Ag2CO3 loaded phosphorus and sulphur co-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets in simulated wastewater. Arab. J. Chem. 2020, 13, 3196–3209.
Sun, M.; Zeng, Q.; Zhao, X.; Shao, Y.; Ji, P. G.; Wang, C. Q.; Yan, T.; Du, B. Fabrication of novel g-C3N4 nanocrystals decorated Ag3PO4 hybrids: Enhanced charge separation and excellent visible-light driven photocatalytic activity. J. Hazard. Mater. 2017, 339, 9–21.
Li, Y. F.; Fang, L.; Jin, R. X.; Yang, Y.; Fang, X.; Xing, Y.; Song, S. Y. Preparation and enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of novel g-C3N4 nanosheets loaded with Ag2CO3 nanoparticles. Nanoscale 2015, 7, 758–764.
Mishra, P.; Patnaik, S.; Parida, K. An overview of recent progress on noble metal modified magnetic Fe3O4 for photocatalytic pollutant degradation and H2 evolution. Catal. Sci. Technol. 2019, 9, 916–941.
Mishra, P.; Behera, A.; Kandi, D.; Ratha, S.; Parida, K. Novel magnetic retrievable visible-light-driven ternary Fe3O4@NiFe2O4/phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalyst with significantly enhanced activity through a double-Z-scheme system. Inorg. Chem. 2020, 59, 4255–4272.
Shao, Y. Y.; Ye, W. D.; Sun, C. Y.; Liu, C. L.; Wang, Q.; Chen, C. C.; Gu, J. Y.; Chen, X. Q. Enhanced photoreduction degradation of polybromodiphenyl ethers with Fe3O4-g-C3N4 under visible light irradiation. RSC Adv. 2018, 8, 10914–10921.
Mansingh, S.; Acharya, R.; Martha, S.; Parida, K. M. Pyrochlore Ce2Zr2O7 decorated over rGO: A photocatalyst that proves to be efficient towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and degradation of ciprofloxacin under visible light. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2018, 20, 9872–9885.
Liu, C. Y.; Li, X.; Li, J. Z.; Zhou, Y. J.; Sun, L. L.; Wang, H. Q.; Huo, P. W.; Ma, C. C.; Yan, Y. S. Fabricated 2D/2D CdIn2S4/N-rGO muti-heterostructure photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic activity. Carbon 2019, 152, 565–574.
Wu, Y. Q.; Wang, P.; Zhu, X. L.; Zhang, Q. Q.; Wang, Z. Y.; Liu, Y. Y.; Zou, G. Z.; Dai, Y.; Whangbo, M. H.; Huang, B. B. Composite of CH3NH3PbI3 with reduced graphene oxide as a highly efficient and stable visible-light photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution in aqueous HI solution. Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1704342.
Mansingh, S.; Padhi, D. K.; Parida, K. Bio-surfactant assisted solvothermal synthesis of magnetic retrievable Fe3O4@rGO nanocomposite for photocatalytic reduction of 2-nitrophenol and degradation of TCH under visible light illumination. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2019, 466, 679–690.
Padhi, D. K.; Panigrahi, T. K.; Parida, K.; Singh, S. K.; Mishra, P. M. Green synthesis of Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic performance for Cr(VI) reduction, phenol degradation, and antibacterial activity. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2017, 5, 10551–10562.
Yu, T.; Hu, Z. M.; Wang, H. M.; Tan, X. Enhanced visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution of ultrathin narrow-band-gap g-C3N4 nanosheets. J. Mater. Sci. 2020, 55, 2118–2128.
Wang, P. F.; Zhan, S. H.; Xia, Y. G.; Ma, S. L.; Zhou, Q. X.; Li, Y. The fundamental role and mechanism of reduced graphene oxide in rGO/Pt-TiO2 nanocomposite for high-performance photocatalytic water splitting. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2017, 207, 335–346.
Song, P.; Liu, B.; Liang, C. B.; Ruan, K. P.; Qiu, H.; Ma, Z. L.; Guo, Y. Q.; Gu, J. W. Lightweight, flexible cellulose-derived carbon aerogel@reduced graphene oxide/PDMS composites with outstanding emi shielding performances and excellent thermal conductivities. Nano-Micro Lett. 2021, 13, 91.
Yang, Y.; Zeng, Z. T.; Zeng, G. M.; Huang, D. L.; Xiao, R.; Zhang, C.; Zhou, C. Y.; Xiong, W. P.; Wang, W. J.; Cheng, M. et al. Ti3C2 MXene/porous g-C3N4 interfacial Schottky junction for boosting spatial charge separation in photocatalytic H2O2 production. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2019, 258, 117956.
Zhang, M. M.; Lai, C.; Li, B. S.; Huang, D. L.; Zeng, G. M.; Xu, P.; Qin, L.; Liu, S. Y.; Liu, X. G.; Yi, H. et al. Rational design 2D/2D BiOBr/CDs/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst with carbon dots as solid-state electron mediators for enhanced visible and NIR photocatalytic activity: Kinetics, intermediates, and mechanism insight. J. Catal. 2019, 369, 469–481.
Ruan, K. P.; Gu, J. W. Ordered alignment of liquid crystalline graphene fluoride for significantly enhancing thermal conductivities of liquid crystalline polyimide composite films. Macromolecules 2022, 55, 4134–4145.
Yang, H. Z.; Shang, L.; Zhang, Q. H.; Shi, R.; Waterhouse, G. I. N.; Gu, L.; Zhang, T. R. A universal ligand mediated method for large scale synthesis of transition metal single atom catalysts. Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 4585.
Lee, D. E.; Devthade, V.; Moru, S.; Jo, W. K.; Tonda, S. Magnetically sensitive TiO2 hollow sphere/Fe3O4 core-shell hybrid catalyst for high-performance sunlight-assisted photocatalytic degradation of aqueous antibiotic pollutants. J. Alloys Compd. 2022, 902, 163612.
Ma, T. Y.; Cao, J. L.; Jaroniec, M.; Qiao, S. Z. Interacting carbon nitride and titanium carbide nanosheets for high-performance oxygen evolution. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 1138–1142.
Guo, F.; Shi, W. L.; Guan, W. S.; Huang, H.; Liu, Y. Carbon dots/g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposite as efficient visible-light driven photocatalyst for tetracycline total degradation. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2017, 173, 295–303.
Li, X.; Liu, S. S.; Cao, D.; Mao, R.; Zhao, X. Synergetic activation of H2O2 by photo-generated electrons and cathodic Fenton reaction for enhanced self-driven photoelectrocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2018, 235, 1–8.
Zhu, L.; Kong, X. Q.; Yang, C. W.; Ren, B. X.; Tang, Q. Fabrication and characterization of the magnetic separation photocatalyst C−TiO2@Fe3O4/AC with enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. J. Hazard. Mater. 2020, 381, 120910.
Guo, H.; Niu, H. Y.; Liang, C.; Niu, C. G.; Huang, D. W.; Zhang, L.; Tang, N.; Yang, Y.; Feng, C. Y.; Zeng, G. M. Insight into the energy band alignment of magnetically separable Ag2O/ZnFe2O4 p−n heterostructure with rapid charge transfer assisted visible light photocatalysis. J. Catal. 2019, 370, 289–303.
Lin, X. H.; Wu, Y.; Xiang, J.; He, D.; Li, S. F. Y. Elucidation of mesopore-organic molecules interactions in mesoporous TiO2 photocatalysts to improve photocatalytic activity. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2016, 199, 64–74.
Jiang, W. S.; Zong, X. P.; An, L.; Hua, S. X.; Miao, X.; Luan, S. L.; Wen, Y. J.; Tao, F. F.; Sun, Z. C. Consciously constructing heterojunction or direct Z-scheme photocatalysts by regulating electron flow direction. ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 2209–2217.
Zhu, T. T.; Song, Y. H.; Ji, H. Y.; Xu, Y. G.; Song, Y. X.; Xia, J. X.; Yin, S.; Li, Y. P.; Xu, H.; Zhang, Q. et al. Synthesis of g-C3N4/Ag3VO4 composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. Chem. Eng. J. 2015, 271, 96–105.
Tang, M. L.; Ao, Y. H.; Wang, C.; Wang, P. F. Rationally constructing of a novel dual Z-scheme composite photocatalyst with significantly enhanced performance for neonicotinoid degradation under visible light irradiation. Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2020, 270, 118918.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21667019 and 22066017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Electronic Supplementary Material
12274_2022_5110_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Graphitic carbon nitride/ferroferric oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as highly active visible light photocatalyst
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Luo, J., Dai, Z., Feng, M. et al. Graphitic carbon nitride/ferroferric oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as highly active visible light photocatalyst. Nano Res. 16, 371–376 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5110-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5110-z