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

Abstract

A highly efficient visible-light-driven g-C 3 N 4 /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-C 3 N 4 nanosheets. Compared with the pure g-C 3 N 4 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-C 3 N 4 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-C 3 N 4 and CuO as well as the decreased particle size of CuO, the presence of H 2 O 2 , large surface-exposure area and the suitable band position of g-C 3 N 4 /CuO nanocomposite. Interestingly, the nanocomposite shows excellent stability and recyclable property toward the photodegradation of RhB. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism is proposed.