A morphological decoration of g-C3N4/ZrO2 heterojunctions as a visible light activated photocatalyst for degradation of various organic pollutants. Issue 6 (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tanzifi, Marjan; Jahanshahi, Mohsen; Peyravi, Majid; Khalili, Soodabeh
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental chemical engineering. Volume 10:Issue 6(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: Rational design -- Heterojunction -- Photocatalyst -- Visible light -- Degradation; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects; Environmental engineering; Periodicals; 660.0286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2022.108600
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-2929

Abstract

Abstract: Rational decoration of heterojunctions with photocatalytic activity under visible light has received tremendous attentions in the last decade. In particular, fine tuning the morphologies of the components of heterojunction is of great importance that can determine the efficiency of the designed photocatalyst. In this work, various graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 )/zirconium dioxide (ZrO2 ) heterojunctions were successfully synthesized via a solution mixing-calcination method using different morphologies of g-C3 N4 (nanosheet and particle) and ZrO2 (nanosphere, nanorod, and nanosheet). The properties of as-designed heterojunction photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, TGA, FTIR, TEM, AFM, XPS, BET, DRS, PL, EIS, PR, and HPLC. All the designed heterojunctions showed weaker photoluminescence compared to each of components, indicating the efficient charge transfer between g-C3 N4 and ZrO2, and delayed electron-hole pairs recombination process. Among the six designed heterojunctions, the highest photocatalytic activity was observed in the 2D/2D heterojunction with efficient O2 - production, which was due to higher surface area, good integration of nanosheets morphologies, existence of abundant high-rate charge transfer nanochannels and better separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs in this heterojunction. This research indicates that right selection of morphology of the nanomaterials for designing photocatalysts plays an important role in realizing efficient heterojunctions nanomaterials. Graphical Abstract: ga1 Highlights: G-C3 N4 /ZrO2 heterojunctions with morphology control of ZrO2 and g-C3 N4 were successfully constructed via a solution mixing-calcination method. Morphologies of ZrO2 and g-C3 N4 influence the photocatalytic performance of as-prepared sample dramatically. 2 D–2 D g-C3 N4 /ZrO2 heterojunction exhibits much higher visible light photocatalytic activity than that of other heterojunctions. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly due to the formation of numerous intimate nanochannels with high-speed charge transfer ability. O2 - radicals was the dominant active species, with h + holes and OH radicals coming in the second and third, respectively.