Highly Efficient and Recyclable g-C₃N₄/CuO Hybrid Nanocomposite Towards Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

A highly efficient visible-light-driven g-C3N4/CuO hybrid nanocomposite catalyst with different molar contents of CuO are successfully fabricated via a simple liquid phase synthesis process and applied to the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution. The results reveal that monodisperse CuO nanoparticles with a size of less than 10[Formula: see text]nm are uniformly distributed on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets. Compared with the pure g-C3N4 and CuO, the as-prepared nanocomposite displays significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation. Attractively, the photocatalytic activities of the nanocomposite catalysts can be tuned by adjusting the molar ratio of g-C3N4 and CuO. When the molar ratio reaches 2:1, the nanocomposite exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity, which can decompose RhB completely in 5[Formula: see text]min. The improved performance could be ascribed to the formation of heterostructure between g-C3N4 and CuO as well as the decreased particle size of CuO, the presence of H2O2, large surface-exposure area and the suitable band position of g-C3N4/CuO nanocomposite. Interestingly, the nanocomposite shows excellent stability and recyclable property toward the photodegradation of RhB. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism is proposed.

Nanostructured CuO with a thin g-C3N4 layer as a highly efficient photocathode for solar water splitting

“…The main peak of Cu 2p 3/2 at 933.8 eV is accompanied by two satellite peaks toward higher binding energies of approximately 943.8 eV and 941.5 eV, which suggests that CuO is completely converted from Cu 2 O by thermal oxidation. 30,31 The XPS O 1s spectra are presented in Fig. 4(c) and (d).…”

“…[21][22][23][24][25][26] Previous studies have focused on the heterostructure of g-C 3 N 4 /CuO to prevent the recombination of photogenerated carriers and improve the overall absorption of the composite in the visible-light region. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33] However, reported g-C 3 N 4 /CuO composites are almost all powder photocatalysts, which are difficult to separate from liquid systems. Furthermore, few studies have employed thin layers of g-C 3 N 4 when developing photocathodes.…”

Photoelectrochemical Water‐Splitting Using CuO‐Based Electrodes for Hydrogen Production: A Review

“…The VB and CB of CuO with the value of +1.14 V versus SHE and −0.46 V versus SHE, respectively, are located between the CB and VB flat bands potential of g‐C 3 N 4 . [ 310 ]…”

Synthesis and process parametric effects on the photocatalyst efficiency of CuO nanostructures for decontamination of toxic heavy metal ions

“…On the other hand, Hong et al [94] stressed the importance of adding only an appropriate amount of H2O2 for resulting in maximum degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) using CuO/g-C3N4 photocatalyst. They stated that adding 100L of 30% H2O2 to a reaction system containing 10 mL of 0.01 mM of RhB and 0.01 g of catalyst loading under 300W Xenon lamp resulted in a higher rate of degradation but utilizing 200 L or 50L inhibited the removal rate and ascribed this to the insufficient amount of oxidant to induce the Fenton-like reaction at lower concentration and to the HO .…”