Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants Using Porous g‐C3N4 Nanosheets Decorated with Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, a composite photocatalyst consisted of the porous graphitic carbon nitride (pg‐C3N4) nanosheets decorated with in‐situ grown gold (Au) nanoparticles were prepared. By characterizing and analyzing chemical compositions and structures, and optical and electrical properties of this Au/pg‐C3N4 composite, the excellent photocatalytic performance mainly comes from the following aspects: firstly, pg‐C3N4 synthesized from melamine by high‐temperature calcination with the assistance of ascorbic acid has larger specific surface area and narrower band gap width than common g‐C3N4; secondly, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of Au nanoparticles can enhance light absorption of pg‐C3N4 via near‐field enhancement‐induced excitation; thirdly, the heterojunction formed between Au nanoparticles and pg‐C3N4 nanosheets can promote electron transfer. Consequently, Au/pg‐C3N4 presented the obvious improvement of photocatalytic activity on the degradation of rhodamine B and amaranth under simulated solar irradiation that the kinetic rate constant of degradation reaction can be increased by 3.9 and 5.7 times compared with g‐C3N4, respectively.