V2O5/P-g-C3N4 Z-scheme enhanced heterogeneous photocatalytic removal of methyl orange from water under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Dye removal from water via photocatalytic technologies has attracted considerable attention. In this study, Z-scheme V2O5/P-g-C3N4 photocatalytic materials were prepared by heat treatment and characterized by a series of characterization methods. Under the visible light irradiation condition, the degradation performance of the prepared V2O5/P-g-C3N4 photocatalytic material for methyl orange (MO) removal was investigated. The results indicated that the V2O5/P-g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterostructure exhibited the best apparent rate of degrading MO: 14.5 and 3.7 times higher than those of V2O5 and P-C3N4 when they were separately used. The free radical capture and electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments confirmed that h+ and ∙O2- were the primary active species in the photocatalytic degradation of MO by V2O5/P-g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterogeneous photocatalytic materials. The improvement of catalytic activity was primarily attributed to the formation of a V2O5/P-g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction, which effectively separated the photoexcited electron–hole pairs and improved the reaction efficiency. This study affords a simple strategy for preparing the photocatalytic material, a V2O5/P-g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction, and avails a new method for the MO removal from water.