A one-pot microwave irradiation route to synthesis of CoFe2O4-g-C3N4 heterojunction catalysts for high visible light photocatalytic activity: Exploration of efficiency and stability

Abstract

In this investigation, a high efficient visible light induced photocatalyst based CoFe2O4/g-C3N4 heterostructure was prepared through a microwave irradiation approach. Pure and various composition of CoFe2O4/g-C3N4 hybrid catalysts were characterized by Powder X-ray diffraction method (PXRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV–visible absorbance, Photoluminescence (PL), Raman and BET surface area analysis to know the physico-chemical properties. The interaction of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with g-C3N4 nanosheets have reduced the optical band gap of CoFe2O4 to 2.85 eV from 2.35 eV and improve the charge carrier separation process. Photocatalytic activity of the CoFe2O4/g-C3N4 composite was assessed by degrading of methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous medium under visible light irradiation. The optimized ratio of CoFe2O4/g-C3N4 (15 wt%. loaded CoFe2O4/g-C3N4) composition show high photocatalytic performance. It could degrade MO up to 93.5% in 60 min under stimulated visible light, which is higher than pure catalysts like CoFe2O4 (45.7%) and g-C3N4 (41.5%). This remarkable improvement can be ascribed to synergistically improved charge carrier separation through spinel type CoFe2O4 support g-C3N4.