Effect of a novel one-dimensional zinc tungsten oxide nanorods anchored two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for improved solar-light-driven photocatalytic removal of toxic pollutants and photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

In this study, one-dimensional zinc tungsten oxide (ZnWO4) was prepared by a simple hydrothermal procedure, and two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was prepared by a solid-state reaction method. The g-C3N4/ZnWO4 (CZO) heterostructure was prepared by a hydrothermal approach. Further, TEM, HRTEM, XRD, DRS, and electrochemical investigations were used to describe the formation of CZO heterostructure. The photocatalytic performance of a CZO nanocomposite shows promising properties for the degradation of tetracycline (TC). Further, the CZO nanocomposite was also used for the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The morphology and structural analysis demonstrated the successful dispersion of ZnWO4 nanorods over the g-C3N4 nanosheets. The tuning of CZO nanocomposite bandgap confirms the establishment of heterostructure. From the photocatalytic investigations, the CZO nanocomposite degrades the antibiotic TC within 70 min under solar-light irradiation. The detailed PEC investigations notify the CZO nanocomposite has lesser charge-transfer resistance, high response of photocurrent with good stability. The CZO electrolyte shows improved photocurrent density of 0.162 mA/cm2 vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.1 M Na2SO3 electrolyte under solar-light illumination. The detailed mechanisms of photocatalytic degradation of TC and PEC water oxidation were discussed with possible graphical diagrams.