Zinc vanadium Oxide/g-C3N4 nanosheets as potential material for ascorbic acid sensing and photocatalytic reduction of CO2

Abstract

Two-dimensional mixed metal oxides have attracted attention because of their unique characteristics and diverse crystal structure. In this work, we have synthesized zinc vanadium oxide and its nanocomposite with graphitic-carbon nitride via wet-chemical and hydrothermal methods. XRD analysis unsheathe the ZnV2O6/g-C3N4 for wet-chemically synthesized composite while Zn2V2O7/g-C3N4 for hydrothermally prepared composite. The sample synthesized using the wet-chemical process, has an agglomerated structure in the FESEM micrographs while hydrothermally synthesized sample reveal porous nanosheets of the composite material. Zn2V2O7/g-C3N4 is further characterized with XPS and HRTEM. UV–visible spectroscopy was used to describe the material's optical characteristics and the Tauc relation was used to compute the associated optical bandgap. The as-synthesized composites were assessed as an electrochemical sensing material for ascorbic acid sensing in a neutral pH analyte (PBS). Furthermore, Zn2V2O7/g-C3N4 shows exceptional photocatalytic CO2 reduction and yielded CH4 as a result. As-prepared nanocomposites can be used in commercial applications for electrochemical diagnostics and photocatalytic applications.