Abstract
Dye-containing pollutants are currently a threat to the environment, and it is highly challenging to eliminate these dyes photocatalytically under visible light. Herein, we designed and prepared a ZnO/CuO/g-C3N4 (ZCG) heterostructure nanocomposite by a co-crystallization procedure and applied it to eliminate pollutants from wastewater via a photocatalytic scheme. The structural and morphological features of the composite confirmed the formation of a ZCG nanocomposite. The photocatalytic capability of the ZCG photocatalyst was investigated via the decomposition of methylene blue dye. The outstanding activity level of 97.46% was reached within 50 min. In addition, the proficiency of the ZCG composite was 753%, 392%, 156%, and 130% higher than photolysis, g-C3N4, CuO, and ZnO, respectively. Furthermore, the photodeterioration activity on Congo red was also evaluated and found to be excellent. The enhanced catalytic achievement is attributed to the construction of heterojunctions among the constituent compounds. These properties boost the charge transfer and decrease the recombination rate. Moreover, the reusability of the ZCG product was explored and a negligible photoactivity decline was detected after six successful runs. The outcomes suggest the as-prepared nanocomposite can be applied to remove pollutants, which opens a new door to practical implementation.
Highlights
In recent years, environmental pollution has become a severe problem for human health and aquatic life due to industrialization and the use of a massive amount of chemicals
We focused on the preparation of a ZnO/CuO/g-C3N4 (ZCG) nanocomposite through an efficient co-crystallization method and executed the photocatalytic process for the treatment of dye-containing wastewater followed by visible light irradiation
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the g-C3N4 confirms two peaks (Figure 1a): one is at 12.77◦ corresponding to the (100) plane of the inter-planar stacking of a tri-s-triazine unit and the other one is at 27.74◦ and belongs to the (002) plane due to the interplanar stacking of the conjugated aromatic system (JCPDS 87-1526)
Summary
Environmental pollution has become a severe problem for human health and aquatic life due to industrialization and the use of a massive amount of chemicals. Among the widely used semiconductor photocatalysts, ZnO and CuO are most significantly applied due to being low cost and non-toxic, with notable thermal and electrical conductivity and outstanding photocatalytic efficiency These two materials, when used alone, have some inconvenient limitations in visible light photocatalytic applications. The photocatalytic efficiency towards pollutant degradation of pristine g-C3N4 is low due to its quick e−-h+ pair recombination ability [18,24] To counteract this drawback, various methods have been applied in attempts to increase the visible light photocatalysis, coupling with other semiconductors or metals, non-metal doping, control of morphology, etc. We focused on the preparation of a ZnO/CuO/g-C3N4 (ZCG) nanocomposite through an efficient co-crystallization method and executed the photocatalytic process for the treatment of dye-containing wastewater followed by visible light irradiation.
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