Fabrication of Ternary Ag/g‐C3N4/BiVO4 Composites with Enhanced Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Activity toward Rhodamine B Elimination

• Published in: ChemistrySelect (Weinheim) Vol. 8; no. 28
• Main Authors: Hoang, Lan‐Anh T., Le‐Duy, Nhat, Nguyen, Trinh Duy, Lee, Taeyoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 26.07.2023
• Subjects: Ag/g-C3N4/BiVO4; dye removal; Rhodamine B; ternary composite; visible light
• ISSN: 2365-6549; 2365-6549
• DOI: 10.1002/slct.202301024

BiVO4 and g‐C3N4 have gain attention for their potential in sustainable energy and environmental applications due to their visible light absorption properties. However, their limitations in terms of visible light absorption and electron‐hole separation have prompted efforts to enhance their energy utilization and reduce electron‐hole recombination. In our study, we investigated the fabrication of a ternary Ag/g‐C3N4/BiVO4 composite for Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation under visible light irradiation using a combination of photo‐deposition and calcination methods. Our findings demonstrate that the Ag/g‐C3N4/BiVO4 outperforms g‐C3N4, BiVO4, and g‐C3N4/BiVO4 in terms of RhB degradation rate. This improvement can be attributed to the improved light absorption and synergetic effects on charge transfer and photoelectron‐hole recombination resulting from the incorporation of Ag into the ternary system. This ternary Ag/g‐C3N4/BiVO4 composite has potential as a photocatalyst for the removal of organic pollutants due to its reasonable design and superior effectiveness. We proposed a simple and cost‐effective technique to synthesize ternary Ag/g‐C3N4/BiVO4 by combining of calcination and precipitation techniques with a 99 % removal of RhB after 90 min of irradiation, compared to its individual components. This increased activity can be attributed to its ability to generate separate photogenerated charge carriers and the role of Ag as an electronic transmission medium between g‐C3N4 and BiVO4.