Issue 9, 2014

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.

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

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Okt 2013
Accepted
05 Feb 2014
First published
06 Feb 2014

Nanoscale, 2014,6, 4830-4842

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

S. Kumar, A. Baruah, S. Tonda, B. Kumar, V. Shanker and B. Sreedhar, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 4830 DOI: 10.1039/C3NR05271K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements