Facile one-pot ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of novel Ag@RGO/g-C3N4 ternary 0D@2D/2D nanocomposite with enhanced synergetic tandem adsorption-photocatalytic degradation of recalcitrant organic dyes: Kinetic and mechanistic insights

Abstract

Visible-light-driven photocatalysis can be considered as an eco-friendly approach for the effective treatment of wastewater, where 2D g-C3N4-based photocatalysts exhibited outstanding performance in this approach. Thus, a green simple one-pot ultrasonic method was utilized for the first time, with in-situ reduction of Ag+ and GO, to synthesize an innovative ternary nanocomposite of g-C3N4 nanosheets, Ag quantum dots, and RGO nanosheets. The samples were analyzed by several techniques including PXRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, DRS, and PL. The anchoring of RGO nanosheets and Ag quantum dots on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets caused an outstanding improvement of its visible light absorption, a remarkable reduction of its bandgap energy from 2.65 to 1.97 eV, an unprecedented decline in the e–h recombination rate, a complete removal of Rhodamine-B dye through adsorption, and a unique improvement in the photodegradation of Amaranth dye. Finally, the mechanism of the synergetic improved photocatalytic behavior of Ag@RGO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites was suggested.