Easy synthesis of TiO2/g-C3N4 heterostructure photocatalyst with large surface area and excellent photocatalytic activity

A novel mesoporous TiO2/g-C3N4 heterostructured photocatalyst was fabricated using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the templates. The structure and morphology of the photocatalyst were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption-desorption isothermal, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV vis DRS). Photocatalytic activities of TiO2/g-C3N4 were evaluated through the degradation of organic dyes. The results show that the as-prepared TiO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst has a large specific surface area (591.93 m(2)/g), excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity and good stability. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to its large surface area, the strong visible-light absorption and the heterostructured combination of TiO2 and g-C3N4, which improves the charge-carriers separation.