Visible light degradation and separation of RhB by magnetic Fe3O4/ZnO/g-C3N4 nanoparticles

Photocatalytic technology has the potential to eliminate organic pollutants in wastewater. Herein, superparamagnetic Fe3O4/ZnO/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts are reported. Photocatalysts with different g-C3N4 concentrations were prepared and their photocatalytic activities were tested. The composite samples have better photocatalytic activity in visible light. This result suggests that the heterogeneous junction of the composite photocatalyst retards carrier recombination: because of the presence of g-C3N4 nanosheets, the optical response range of photocatalyst is expanded. The introduction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles can solve the problem of difficult recovery of powder photocatalyst. Photocatalyst activity only slightly decreases after three cycles of use.