Cost-effective and eco-friendly synthesis of novel and stable N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 core–shell nanoplates with excellent visible-light responsive photocatalysis

Abstract

N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 hybrid core-shell nanoplates have been successfully prepared via a facile, cost-effective and eco-friendly ultrasonic dispersion method for the first time. HRTEM studies confirm the formation of the N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 hybrid core-shell nanoplates with an average diameter of 50 nm and the g-C3N4 shell thickness can be tuned by varying the content of loaded g-C3N4. The direct contact of the N-doped ZnO surface and g-C3N4 shell without any adhesive interlayer introduced a new carbon energy level in the N-doped ZnO band gap and thereby effectively lowered the band gap energy. Consequently, the as-prepared hybrid core-shell nanoplates showed a greatly enhanced visible-light photocatalysis for the degradation of Rhodamine B compare to that of pure N-doped ZnO surface and g-C3N4. Based on the experimental results, a proposed mechanism for the N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was discussed. Interestingly, the hybrid core-shell nanoplates possess high photostability. The improved photocatalytic performance is due to a synergistic effect at the interface of the N-doped ZnO and g-C3N4 including large surface-exposure area, energy band structure and enhanced charge-separation properties. Significantly, the enhanced performance also demonstrates the importance of evaluating new core-shell composite photocatalysts with g-C3N4 as shell material.

Z‐Scheme Photocatalytic Systems for Promoting Photocatalytic Performance: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

“…Z‐scheme BiVO 4 /g‐C 3 N 4 composites that the facet coupling occurred between the g‐C 3 N 4 (002) and BiVO 4 (121) were obtained by calcination of a mixture of appropriate amounts of BiVO 4 and g‐C 3 N 4 at 400°C for 4 h 35. Similarly, other Z‐scheme composites, such as MoO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 , ZnO/g‐C 3 N 4 , and WO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 , have also been synthesized through calcination process 36, 37, 38. Additionally, hydrothermal reactions were extensively applied to the formation of direct Z‐scheme systems 35, 39, 40.…”

“…As a promising photocatalyst, graphite‐like carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ), which consists of only carbon and nitrogen, is a sustainable, cost‐effective and environmental‐friendly semiconductor that has attracted extensive interest 42. The combination of g‐C 3 N 4 with other appropriate semiconductors for construction of a direct Z‐scheme system can effectively improve the photocatalytic performance 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 43, 44, 45. Recently, a direct Z‐schemeg‐C 3 N 4 /AgBr photocatalyst was prepared by loading AgBr nanoparticles on a protonated g‐C 3 N 4 matrix 43.…”

“…Many works studied different connection modes of Z‐scheme photocatalytic systems 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, …”

Transformation of polymer-ZnO core–shell nanofibers into ZnO hollow nanofibers: Intrinsic defect reorganization in ZnO and its influence on the photocatalysis

“…Ever increasing environmental pollution forces the researchers to fabricate efficient catalysts which can use sunlight to disintegrate or oxidize the organic substances [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. It is known that delaying the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pair increases the efficiency of the catalysts [10,12,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

BiOCl/SnS2 Core-Shell Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Organic Pollutants

“…[8][9][10] Semiconductor heterojunction is recognized as the most promising choice in photocatalytic research. [11][12][13] The coupling of wide band gap and narrow gap semiconductor can not only extend the light response range but also promote the separation of electron-hole pairs, leading to improved photocatalytic e±ciency. 14 However, the matching degree of band gap and crystal lattice between the two components, together with the morphology can greatly in°uence the photocatalytic property.…”