Rationally designed Fe2O3/GO/WO3 Z-Scheme photocatalyst for enhanced solar light photocatalytic water remediation

A novel ternary Fe2O3/GO/WO3 all-solid-state Z-Scheme photocatalyst was rationally designed. Structural, morphological, optical and electronic properties of the synthesized nanocomposite were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV vis Diffuse Reflectance and Raman spectroscopy. The results revealed the successful synthesis of the nanocomposite materials. Uniquely, double absorption edges at 2.0 and 2.3 eV for Fe2O3/WO3 and triple absorption edges at 1.5, 1.8 and 2.1 eV for Fe2O3/GO/WO3 were investigated for the first time. Lower absorption band edges dominated for both Fe2O3/WO3 and Fe2O3/GO/WO3, while higher absorption edges dominated for pure nanomaterials. The enhanced interaction among GO, Fe2O3 and WO3 matrix explained the reduction in the CB energy leading to efficient electron separation and transformation and consequently improving the photo catalytic activity. The visible light photocatalytic performance of Fe2O3/GO/WO3 nanocomposites were evaluated for degradation of methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) dyes as model water pollutants. The photocatalytic activity for degradation of both dyes was found to be greatly enhanced in the presence of ternary Fe2O3/GO/WO3 nanocomposite as compared to nanocomposite systems of Fe2O3/WO3, WO3/GO and Fe2O3/GO or pure Fe-2O3 and WO3 nanomaterials. The enhancement in the photocatalytic performance of the ternary Fe2O3/GO/WO3 nanocomposite was expected to be due to the all-solid-state Z-Scheme in which the photo generated electrons in the CB of photosystem I (WO3) transferred through GO mediator and recombined with the photogenerated holes in the VB of Fe2O3 (photosystem II). So that, the electron-hole pair recombination can be suppressed in both systems. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of Fe2O3/GO/WO3 nanocomposite has been tested for the degradation of phenol. The results show that 95.4% of phenol was degraded in 120 min. This study provides an efficient green Z-Scheme photocatalyst for water remediation utilizing solar light.