Journal
RSC ADVANCES
Volume 5, Issue 111, Pages 91177-91189Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c5ra17360d
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Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21576125, 21407064]
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [BK20131259, BK20130489, BK20140532]
- Research Foundation of Jiangsu University, China [11JDG107]
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A novel graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-ZnO/halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposite photocatalyst was synthesized via a facile calcination method in order to enhance the visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability of pure ZnO photocatalysts for degradation of tetracycline. The network-layered structure of g-C3N4 was formed after compositing with previously prepared ZnO/HNTs and the g-C3N4-ZnO heterojunction has been formed during the coupling process. Furthermore, the HNTs can efficiently extend the surface area of g-C3N4, which leads to strengthening of the pathways of charge transfer and prolonging the lifetimes of photoexcited carriers. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and incident-photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) measurements showed the improvement of the as-obtained g-C3N4-ZnO/HNT photocatalysts' performance which can be attributed to enhanced charge transfer as a result of more effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Such a notable enhancement of photocatalytic performance was mainly ascribed to the improved charge transfer and separation rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs by the heterostructure of the g-C3N4-ZnO/HNT catalyst. The mechanism of photodegradation was systematically analysed by active species trapping test and electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trap technique with dimethyl pyridine N-oxide (DMPO), which conclude that (OH)-O-center dot and O-center dot(2)- radicals are the major reactive species during the photocatalytic reaction for g-C3N4-ZnO/HNT composite photocatalysts.
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