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Construction of direct Z‐scheme g‐C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 nanorod composites for promoting photocatalytic activity
Author(s) -
Liu Mei,
Wei Shaojie,
Chen Wei,
Gao Li,
Li Xiying,
Mao Liqun,
Dang Haifeng
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the chinese chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.329
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 2192-6549
pISSN - 0009-4536
DOI - 10.1002/jccs.201900135
Subject(s) - nanorod , photocatalysis , rhodamine b , chemistry , composite number , redox , composite material , nanotechnology , photochemistry , materials science , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
Direct Z‐scheme g‐C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 nanorod composites were prepared for enhancing photocatalytic activity for pollutant removal. The characterization revealed that the g‐C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 nanorod composite formed a close interface contact between g‐C 3 N 4 and TiO 2 nanorods, which was of benefit for the charge transfer and resulted in its high photocatalytic activity. The g‐C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 nanorod composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RHB) than bare g‐C 3 N 4 and TiO 2 nanorods. The high photocatalytic activity of g‐C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 nanorod composites is attributed to the formation of the direct Z‐scheme system, in which the electrons from the conduction band (CB) of TiO 2 combine with the holes from the valence band (VB) of C 3 N 4 while the electrons from the CB of C 3 N 4 and holes from the VB of TiO 2 with stronger redox ability are used to reduce and oxidize pollutants. Based on the radical‐trapping experiments, the main reactive species for RHB degradation are O 2 − and · OH, which are produced by photoinduced electrons and holes with high redox ability. This work provides insights into the photocatalytic mechanism of composite materials for the photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants.