Synthesis and characterization of a ZrO2/g-C3N4 composite with enhanced visible-light photoactivity for rhodamine degradation $(document).ready(function() { if (!$("html").hasClass("ie8")) { $.ajax({ url: "https://crossmark-cdn.crossref.org/widget/v2.0/widget.js", dataType: "script", cache: true }).done(function() { $(".crossmark-button").addClass("visible"); }); } });

Abstract

The visible-light-driven ZrO₂/g-C₃N₄ hybrid photocatalysts were prepared by direct heating of ZrO₂ and melamine. Compared to pure g-C₃N₄ or ZrO₂, the synthesized ZrO₂/g-C₃N₄ exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity for rhodamine (RhB) degradation under visible light irradiation. In order to reveal the origin of the high photoactivity, the ZrO₂/g-C₃N₄ composites were characterized by various techniques including N₂ adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), and electrochemical methods. The characterization results demonstrated that ZrO₂ nanoparticles were well distributed on the surface of g-C₃N₄. Although the anchoring of ZrO₂ on g-C₃N₄ increased the surface area and light absorption ability, the hetero-junctions formed between the two semiconductors which retarded the recombination of electrons and holes were believed to result in the enhanced photoactivity of the ZrO₂/g-C₃N₄ composite. In addition, it was found that holes and ˙O₂⁻ generated in the photocatalytic process played a key role in RhB degradation over the ZrO₂/g-C₃N₄ hybrids.