Study on Microstructure and Photocatalytic Mechanism of g‐C3N4/WO3 Heterojunctions Prepared by Ice Template

Abstract

AbstractFor semiconductor photocatalyst, such as g‐C3N4/WO3, heterojunction contact area and specific surface area are the main reasons that limit their photocatalytic activity. Simultaneously, the photogenerated electron‐hole transport mechanism of g‐C3N4/WO3 is still controversial. In this article, g‐C3N4/WO3 semiconductor photocatalysts were synthesized by ice template method. XRD, SEM, BET, etc. were used to characterize the microstructure and morphology of g‐C3N4/WO3 with different quality scores of WO3, and it was found that the specific surface area of 10 wt% g‐C3N4/WO3 reached 54.8 m2/g, which was 1.92 times that of g‐C3N4. The photocatalytic performance of semiconductor photocatalysts was measured by photolysis of aquatic hydrogen and degradation of RhB solution. The results show that the cumulative hydrogen production of 10 wt% g‐C3N4/WO3 is 780.11 μmol/g, which is 27.5 % higher than that of g‐C3N4. Simultaneously, the degradation rate of the g‐C3N4/WO3 composite material to Rhodamine B solution is 4.27 times that of g‐C3N4. The mechanism of electron hole separation was obtained by EPR, and it is proved that g‐C3N4/WO3 composite material constructs Z‐type heterojunction.