Enabling highly efficient navy-blue dye degradation over the LaFeO3/B-g-C3N4/WO3 double z-scheme heterostructure

Abstract

Chemical reactivity, optical and electronic features of conventional photocatalysts can be improved by chemical modification and nanocomposites fabrication techniques. Herein, a double Z-scheme LaFeO3/B-g-C3N4/WO3 (LFO/B-CN/WO) heterostructure nanocomposite has been successfully fabricated via a hydrothermal approach. XRD, FT-IR, SEM/EDS, TEM, TGA/DSC, and UV–visible spectroscopy confirmed crystallographic planes, phase purity, and heterojunction between LFO, WO and B-CN. From UV visible absorption spectroscopy, it was confirmed that optical band gap energy of CN is remarkably reduced after boron doping. The LFO/B-CN/WO photocatalyst revealed 96 % degradation performance for Navy Blue (NB) dye after visible light irradiation for 130 min under neutral pH conditions. The data were analyzed using pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetics models to evaluate the dye degradation kinetics. Compared to the CN, B-CN, LFO-CN and WO-CN photocatalysts, the performance of LFO/B-CN/WO was much significant. Improved light absorption capability, effective spatial separation and prolonged charge-carrying capacity of the double Z-scheme system resulted in enhanced photocatalytic performance. This study offers new insights into the design and synthesis of highly efficient Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts for environmental decontamination and clean energy purposes.