Abstract
Herein, the synthesis, characterization, and photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic characteristics of hydrothermally prepared La2O3–g-C3N4, CoO–g-C3N4, and La2O3–CoO–g-C3N4 are discussed. The XRD analysis and crystalline phases unveiled the impregnation of La2O3 and CoO into g-C3N4. The microscopic analysis supports the formation of g-C3N4 nanoflakes and La2O3 and CoO nanoparticles embedded homogeneously in the La2O3–CoO–g-C3N4 nanocomposite, whereas the EDX comprehended their respective elemental composition and ratios. A bandgap energy of 2.38 eV for La2O3–CoO–g-C3N4 was calculated using the Tauc plot method, complementing high visible-light activity. The solar-driven water-splitting reaction exhibited significant photocurrent efficiency (~3.75 mA/cm2), augmenting the hydrogen generation by La2O3–CoO–g-C3N4 compared to that by pure g-C3N4, La2O3–g-C3N4, and CoO–g-C3N4 in 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. The synergistic effect of La2O3 and CoO impregnation with g-C3N4 led to effective division of the photogenerated charge transporters, enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen generation by the photocatalysts. Furthermore, photocatalytic pollutant removal, namely greater than 90% decomposition of methylene blue (MB) from water, was investigated with a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics under 1 sun visible-light irradiation. Thus, La2O3–CoO–g-C3N4 nanocomposite was found to be a prospective material for harnessing solar energy.
Highlights
In recent years, the fossil-fuel-based economies have been revolving around a major quest for renewable energy sources
It is based on the fabrication of molecular or nanostructured photocatalyst materials to advance our understanding of solar-energy-driven charge distribution and successive photocatalytic water reduction and oxidation processes
It is worth mentioning that the intensity of CoO peaks in CoO–g-C3 N4 was somewhat on the lower side as compared to CoO X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak intensity observed in La2 O3 –CoO-g-C3 N4 nanocomposite
Summary
The fossil-fuel-based economies have been revolving around a major quest for renewable energy sources. Robust, and low-cost photocatalysts for renewable energy purposes are highly desired for the future of sustainable energy In this scenario, ample nanomaterials have been explored, but research o fabricate excellent photocatalysts is still ongoing. The photocatalytic activity of pure g-C3 N4 still suffers from sluggish conversion efficiencies, rapid electron–hole reassimilation and concurrent charge recombination, diminutive electrical conduction, low optical absorption, and small surface area [30] These issues have been addressed lately [31], e.g., fabrication of mesoporous materials [32]. We successfully impregnated lanthanum and cobalt oxides with g-C3 N4 hydrothermally to fabricate La2 O3 –g-C3 N4 , CoO–g-C3 N4 , and La2 O3 –CoO–gC3 N4 nanocomposite as effective photocatalysts for photoelectrochemical water-splitting (PECWS) and photodegradation studies. Photoelectrochemical measurements showed improved photocurrent generation in a standard three-electrode electrochemical cell using a neutral electrolyte and enhanced photocatalytic activities compared to the competing photocatalysts
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