Visible-light-driven heterojunction photocatalysts based on g-C3N4 decorated La2Ti2O7: Effective transportation of photogenerated carriers in this heterostructure

Lanthanide titanate (La2Ti2O7) with strong reduction-oxidation ability has been regarded as a new promising photocatalyst. To boost its photocatalytic activity, g-C3N4/La2Ti2O7 composites were designed and constructed. The results reveal that La2Ti2O7 nanosheets were well attached to the surface of g-C3N4 and the composites had good visible-light absorption properties. Significantly, compared to pure La2Ti2O7 and g-C3N4, the composites exhibited outstanding photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be derived from the effective transportation of photogenerated electrons from g-C3N4 to La2Ti2O7. The electrons with high reduction ability can generate more active species to participate in the photodegradation reaction.