Magnetically recoverable highly efficient visible-light-active g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradations of environmental pollutants

• Published in: Advanced powder technology : the international journal of the Society of Powder Technology, Japan Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 94 - 105
• Main Authors: Mousavi, Mitra, Habibi-Yangjeh, Aziz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2018
• Subjects: g-C3N4-based photocatalysts; g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr; Heterojunction; Magnetic nanocomposites; g-C3N4-based photocatalysts; g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr; Magnetic nanocomposites; Heterojunction
• ISSN: 0921-8831; 1568-5527
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apt.2017.10.016

[Display omitted] •Magnetically recoverable g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr photocatalyst is reported.•g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr (30%) nanocomposite exhibited the highest activity.•Photocatalytic activity is 21-folds greater than g-C3N4 in RhB degradation.•The photocatalyst is magnetically separated after successive runs. Herein, magnetically recoverable g-C3N4/Fe3O4/Ag2WO4/AgBr (gCN/M/AgW/AgBr) nanocomposites, as greatly efficient visible-light-active photocatalysts, were fabricated by successive decoration of Fe3O4, Ag2WO4, and AgBr over g-C3N4 (gCN) and they were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, UV–vis DRS, FT-IR, PL, TG, and VSM analysis. Visible-light-induced photocatalytic performances were studied by degradations of RhB, MB, MO, and fuchsine pollutants. It was confirmed that the nanocomposites are effective in the reduction of e−/h+ recombination through the matched interactions between energy bands of gCN, Fe3O4, Ag2WO4, and AgBr semiconductors. The highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency was observed for the gCN/M/AgW/AgBr (30%) nanocomposite when it was refluxed for 30 min. Activity of this nanocomposite is almost 21, 41, 94, and 10-folds greater than those of the gCN toward the degradations of RhB, MB, MO, and fuchsine pollutants, respectively. Additionally, a mechanism for the superior photocatalytic performances was proposed using reactive species scavenging experiments and characterization results.