Synthesis of ZnO, g-C3N4 and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite and their photocatalytic activity under vilsible light irradiation

Authors

  • Nguyen Thi Tu Anh School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology
  • Nguyen Huong Lan School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology
  • Vu Anh Tuan School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51316/jca.2020.034

Keywords:

ZnO/g-C3N4 composites, visible light, photocatalysis, quencher, methylene blue

Abstract

ZnO, C3N4 and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite were prepared for degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The obtained samples were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm and Ultraviolet–Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results showed that the ZnO/g-C3N4 composite had a lower surface area and pore volume than ZnO and g-C3N4. The bandgap energy of ZnO/g-C3N4 composite was 3.20 eV showing a slight decrease with that of pure ZnO (3.21 eV).  The degradation of MB on g-C3N4 was higher than those of ZnO and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite in initial 40 min, but its degradation reaction rate was lower than those of ZnO and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite in 90 min. As the result, the ZnO/g-C3N4 composite exhibited the highest degradation efficiency (93.2 %) among the prepared samples. In addition, the effect of molar ratio of ZnO:g-C3N4 on photocatalytic activity and photocatalytic mechanism under visible light was investigated. The remarkable improvement photocatalytic activity of ZnO/g-C3N4 composite could be attributed to reduced recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs by the presence of g-C3N4 in the composite.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Durán-Jiménez, G., et al., Adsorption of dyes with different molecular properties on activated carbons prepared from lignocellulosic wastes by Taguchi method. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 199 (2014) 99-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2014.08.013

Fu, J., et al., Treatment of simulated wastewater containing Reactive Red 195 by zero-valent iron/activated carbon combined with microwave discharge electrodeless lamp/sodium hypochlorite. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 22(4) (2010) 512-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-0742(09)60142-X

Patsoura, A., D.I. Kondarides, and X.E. Verykios, Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants with simultaneous production of hydrogen. Catalysis Today, 2007. 124(3): 94-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2007.03.028

Fageria, , S. Gangopadhyay, and S. Pande, Synthesis of ZnO/Au and ZnO/Ag nanoparticles and their photocatalytic application using UV and visible light. Rsc Advances, 2014. 4(48): 24962-24972. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA03158J

Panchal, , et al., Phytoextract mediated ZnO/MgO nanocomposites for photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 385 (2019) 112049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2019.112049

Paul, D.R., et al., Silver doped graphitic carbon nitride for the enhanced photocatalytic activity towards organic dyes. Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology, 19(8) (2019) 5241-5248. https://doi.org/10.1166/jnn.2019.16838

Adhikari, S., et al., Visible-light-active g-C3N4/N-doped Sr2Nb2O7 heterojunctions as photocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2(11) (2018) 2507-2515. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SE00319J

Huang, Z., et al., Z-Scheme NiTiO3/g-C3N4 Heterojunctions with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Performances under Visible LED Light Irradiation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9(47) (2017) 41120-41125. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b12386

Malik, R., et al., An excellent humidity sensor based on In–SnO2 loaded mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 5(27) (2017) 14134-14143. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9TA90268F

Malik, R., et al., Ordered mesoporous Ag–ZnO@ g‐CN nanohybrid as highly efficient bifunctional sensing material. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 5(8) (2018) 1701357. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201701357

Safaei, J., et al., Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) electrodes for energy conversion and storage: a review on photoelectrochemical water splitting, solar cells and supercapacitors. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6(45) (2018) 22346-22380. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8TA08001A

Shi, H., et al., Polymeric g-C3N4 Coupled with NaNbO3 Nanowires toward Enhanced Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 into Renewable Fuel. ACS Catalysis, 4(10) (2014) 3637-3643. https://doi.org/10.1021/cs500848f

Vattikuti, S.V., et al., Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Activity of SnO2–ZnO Quantum Dots Anchored on g-C3N4 Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Pollutant Degradation and H2 Production. ACS Omega, (2018) 7587-7602. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b00471

Wang, X., et al., A metal-free polymeric photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water under visible light. Nature materials,. 8(1) (2009) 76-80. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2317

Wang, Y., X. Wang, and M. Antonietti, Polymeric graphitic carbon nitride as a heterogeneous organocatalyst: from photochemistry to multipurpose catalysis to sustainable chemistry.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51(1) (2012) 68-89. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201101182

Bhatia, S. and N. Verma, Photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles with optimization of defects. Materials Research Bulletin, 95 (2017) 468-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.08.019

Chen, X., et al., Preparation of ZnO photocatalyst for the efficient and rapid photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes. Nanoscale research letters, 12(1) (2017) 143. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-017-1904-4

Kumar, V., et al., Doped zinc oxide window layers for dye sensitized solar cells. Journal of Applied Physics, 114(13) (2013) 134506. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4824363

Chidhambaram, N. and K. Ravichandran, Fabrication of ZnO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity. Materials Research Express, 4(7) (2017) 075037.

Li, N., et al., Z-scheme 2D/3D g-C3N4@ ZnO with enhanced photocatalytic activity for cephalexin oxidation under solar light. Chemical Engineering Journal, 352 (2018) 412-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.07.038

Liu, Y., et al., Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity of Z-scheme graphitic carbon nitride/oxygen vacancy-rich zinc oxide hybrid photocatalysts. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 36(12) (2015) 2135-2144. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2067(15)60985-8

Mohammad, A., et al., Zinc oxide-graphitic carbon nitride nanohybrid as an efficient electrochemical sensor and photocatalyst. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 277 (2018) 467-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2018.07.086

Moussa, H., et al., Growth of ZnO Nanorods on Graphitic Carbon Nitride gCN Sheets for the Preparation of Photocatalysts with High Visible-Light Activity. ChemCatChem, 10(21) (2018) 4973-4983. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201801206

Yue, B., et al., Hydrogen production using zinc-doped carbon nitride catalyst irradiated with visible light. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 12(3) (2011) 034401.

Zhu, Y.-, et al., Carbon-doped ZnO hybridized homogeneously with graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposites for photocatalysis. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 118(20) (2014) 10963-10971. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp502677h

Seo, H.-K. and H.-S. Shin, Study on photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanodisks for the degradation of Rhodamine B dye. Materials Letters, 159 (2015) 265-268.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2015.06.094

Lotsch, B.V., et al., Unmasking melon by a complementary approach employing electron diffraction, solid‐state NMR spectroscopy, and theoreticalcalculations—structural characterization of a carbon nitride polymer. Chemistry–A European Journal, 13(17) (2007) 4969-4980. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.200601759

Mai, L.T., L.T. Hoai, and V.A. Tuan, Effects of reaction parameters on photodegradation of caffeine over hierarchical flower-like ZnO nanostructure. Vietnam Journal of Chemistry, 56(5) (2018) 647-653. https://doi.org/10.1002/vjch.201800064

Bouzid, H., et al., Synthesis of mesoporous Ag/ZnO nanocrystals with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Catalysis Today, 252 (2015) 20-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2014.10.011

Han, Q., et al., Atomically Thin Mesoporous Nanomesh of Graphitic C3N4 for High-Efficiency Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. ACS Nano, 10(2) (2016) 2745-2751. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b07831

Kaur, A., et al., A Facile synthesis of silver modified ZnO nanoplates for efficient removal of ofloxacin drug in aqueous phase under solar irradiation. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 6(3) (2018) 3621-3630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2017.05.032

Liu, T., et al., A general method to diverse silver/mesoporous–metal–oxide nanocomposites with plasmon-enhanced photocatalytic activity. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 165 (2015) 378-388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2014.10.041

Paul, D.R., et al., ZnO-Modified g-C3N4: A Potential Photocatalyst for Environmental Application. ACS omega,. 5(8) (2020) 3828-3838. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b02688

Wang, Y., et al., Enhancement of photocurrent and photocatalytic activity of ZnO hybridized with graphite-like C3N 4. Energy & Environmental Science, 4(8) (2011) 2922-2929. https://doi.org/10.1039/C0EE00825G

Published

30-07-2020

Issue

Section

Full Articles

How to Cite

Synthesis of ZnO, g-C3N4 and ZnO/g-C3N4 composite and their photocatalytic activity under vilsible light irradiation. (2020). Vietnam Journal of Catalysis and Adsorption, 9(2), 87-93. https://doi.org/10.51316/jca.2020.034

Share

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

1-10 of 218

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.