One-pot synthesis of g-C3N4/V2O5 composites for visible light-driven photocatalytic activity

The g-C3N4/V2O5 composites with visible light photocatalytic performance have been prepared by one-pot method. The g-C3N4/V2O5 composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that, within the g-C3N4/V2O5 composites, V2O5 nanoparticles were highly crystallized and intertwined with the lamellas of sheet-like g-C3N4 materials, resulting in the generation of well-defined heterostructures. The photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/V2O5 composites was evaluated using Rhodamine B as a target organic molecule. Under visible light illumination, as-prepared g-C3N4/V2O5 hybrid materials demonstrated highly improved photocatalytic activity than g-C3N4 and V2O5 materials. The enhancement in visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to the formation of heterojunctions between V2O5 and g-C3N4, which promoted faster electron-hole separation and favored more efficient charge transfer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.