Abstract
A series of composites consisting of g-C3N4 sheet and mesoporous Nb2O5 (mNb2O5) microsphere were fabricated by in situ hydrolysis deposition of NbCl5 onto g-C3N4 sheet followed by solvothermal treatment. The samples were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The photocatalytic activity of the composites was studied by degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). Compared with g-C3N4 and mNb2O5, g-C3N4-mNb2O5 composites have higher photocatalytic activity due to synergistic effect between g-C3N4 and mNb2O5. Among these composites, 4% g-C3N4-mNb2O5 has the highest efficiency and good recyclability for degradation of both RhB and TC-HCl.
Highlights
Organic dyes and antibiotics are two types of important products which are widely used in textile and pharmaceutical industries, respectively
A series of g-C3N4-mesoporous Nb2O5 (mNb2O5) composites, prepared by in situ hydrolysis deposition of NbCl5 onto g-C3N4 sheet followed by solvothermal treatment, have been used as photocatalysts in degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) and characterized in details
The results indicate that 4% g-C3N4-mNb2O5 exhibits low photoluminescence (PL) intensity and narrow band gap which account for its high catalytic activity
Summary
Organic dyes and antibiotics are two types of important products which are widely used in textile and pharmaceutical industries, respectively. The direct discharge of these chemical compounds along with sewage to environment would be seriously harmful to ecosystem and human health It is, desirable to explore efficient ways to remove them from water [1,2,3]. N-Type transition metal oxide Nb2O5 attracts much interest in photocatalytic reactions due to its high chemical stability, water tolerance, and nontoxicity, the light absorption of Nb2O5 with a wide band gap of ~3.4 eV limits its application only in the UV region [12,13,14]. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been widely used in photocatalytic reactions such as degradation of pollutants, hydrogen generation and selective oxidation of alcohols under visible light due to its excellent chemical/thermal stability, small band gap of 2.7 eV and low cost [18,19,20]. The results indicate that 4% g-C3N4-mNb2O5 exhibits low photoluminescence (PL) intensity and narrow band gap which account for its high catalytic activity
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