Decoration of mesoporous Co3O4 nanospheres assembled by monocrystal nanodots on g-C3N4 to construct Z-scheme system for improving photocatalytic performance

The Co3O4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme system is constructed by decoration of mesoporous Co3O4 nanospheres assembled by monocrystal nanodots on the surface of g-C3N4, which dramatically improves the photocatalytic activity for degrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) compared with single g-C3N4. The microstructure investigations evidence the mesoporous structure and enlarged specific surface area of Co3O4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme system, which implies the increase of surface active sites and adsorption ability for reactant molecules. Moreover, by virtue of analyzing physical and photoelectrochemical properties, it evidences that the decoration effect of mesoporous Co3O4 nanospheres on the surface of g-C3N4 obviously improves the transfer and separation efficiency of charge carriers between two phase interfaces and broadens light harvest range. These important factors are beneficial to enhancing photocatalytic activity of Co3O4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme system. In addition, the photocatalityc reaction mechanism is also revealed in depth. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.