Deposition of ZnO flowers on the surface of g-C3N4 sheets via hydrothermal process

• Published in: Ceramics international Vol. 41; no. 10; pp. 12923 - 12929
• Main Authors: Prasad Adhikari, Surya, Raj Pant, Hem, Joo Kim, Han, Hee Park, Chan, Sang Kim, Cheol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2015
• Subjects: Composite; g-C3N4; Hydrothermal; Photocatalyst; ZnO; g-C3N4; ZnO; Composite; Hydrothermal; Photocatalyst
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.06.134

A one pot hydrothermal process was used to grow zinc oxide (ZnO) flowers on the surface of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for use as an efficient photocatalyst. ZnO flowers on g-C3N4 were grown by heat treating a solution of ZnO precursors with g-C3N4 particles at 140°C for 2h. The resulting composite photocatalyst was characterized by using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The resulting composites exhibited sheet like g-C3N4 decorated with flower-like ZnO microparticles. The composite particle showed much better activity for the photocatalytic degredation of methylene blue than those of g-C3N4 or ZnO alone. This enhanced photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/ZnO composite is attributed to the synergistic effects between g-C3N4 and ZnO, which enhance the efficiency of charge separation and reduce the recombination probability of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The photocatalytic activity of as-synthesized particles did not change after multiple cycles, indicating that the composite was stable and could be reused.