Novel CaCO3/g-C3N4 composites with enhanced charge separation and photocatalytic activity

A novel CaCO3/graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) photocatalyst was synthesized for the first time via a facile calcination method using CaCO3 and melamine as precursors. The as-prepared samples were characterized using various techniques, such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, as well as Fourier-transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron, photoluminescence, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results of the experiments confirm the successful coupling of CaCO3 to g-C3N4. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized CaCO3/g-C3N4 composites was evaluated by assessing their performance in the photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet (CV) in water under visible light irradiation. The analysis shows that CaCO3/g-C3N4 exhibits higher photocatalytic activity towards CV degradation (76.0%) than pristine g-C3N4 (21.6%) and CaCO3 (23.2%). Radical trapping and electron spin resonance experiments show that hydroxyl radicals (center dot OH) and holes (h(+)) are the key reactive species in the photocatalytic process. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composite is mainly attributed to the efficient separation rate of electron-hole pairs achieved through the incorporation of CaCO3. (C) 2019 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.