Fabrication of a g-C3N4/MoS2 photocatalyst for enhanced RhB degradation

The graphitic C3N4 (g-C3N4) is a new non-metallic semiconductor material, which has the advantages of high thermal, sensitive visible light response and stability. It has great application potential in the fields of hydrogen production by water decomposition, organic matter degradation, gas sensing and carbon dioxide reduction. In this article, two-dimensional (2D) g-C3N4 nanosheets and their nanocomposites were prepared, and the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds was investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) test demonstrates that the thickness of g-C3N4 nanosheets stripped from g-C3N4 material is uniform and thin. The X-ray diffraction demonstrates that the g-C3N4 nanosheet is a 3-s-triazine ring crystal structure. Furthermore, g-C3N4/MoS2 nanocomposites were fabricated by impregnation calcination method. FESEM showed that the g-C3N4/MoS2 nanocomposites exhibited nanosheets with uniform thickness. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy illustrated that the composites had both g-C3N4 and MoS2 components. Moreover, the experiment of photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B exhibited that after 90 min illumination, and the degradation efficiency of g-C3N4, g-C3N4 nanosheets, MoS2 and g-C3N4/MoS2 nanocomposites were 80.2%, 91%, 91.5% and 99.4%, respectively. The degradation rate of g-C3N4/MoS2 nanocomposites was 2.1 times that of g-C3N4 nanosheets. Therefore, the successful combination of MoS2 and gC3N4 has significantly improved the photocatalytic properties of g-C3N4 nanosheets.

Automated summary

Graphitic C3N4 is a promising non-metallic semiconductor material with potential applications in catalysis. This study successfully prepared two-dimensional nanosheets and nanocomposites, and investigated their photocatalytic degradation performance of organic compounds.