La-Doped ZnO/g-C3N4Heterojunction for Efficient Degradation of Organic Contamination Under Visible Light Irradiation

Considering the accelerated charge/mass transfer and the formation of active defects at the heterointerface, La-ZnO/g-C(3)N(4)heterogeneous photocatalysts were facilely prepared via a two-step route consisting of hydrothermal and calcination processes in this work. The combination of La(3+)doping in ZnO and the contact between La-ZnO and g-C(3)N(4)endowed the heterogeneous composite with a much enhanced photocatalytic activity towards methyl blue (MB) dye decolorization under the visible light irradiation. It was found that La-ZnO/g-C3N4-4.6 showed an optimal degradation rate of MB (8.72 x 10(- 2)min(- 1)), which is 14 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4(6.23 x 10(- 3)min(- 1)) under the same experimental conditions. The improved photocatalytic MB decolorization is attributed to the increased interfacial electron-hole separation efficiency through constructing La-ZnO/g-C(3)N(4)heterogeneous interfaces. The present study manifests the advantage of heterogeneous interfaces as the charge carrier separation pathway towards boosting photocatalytic activity.

Automated summary

The La-ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) heterogeneous photocatalyst showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for MB dye decolorization under visible light irradiation, with an optimal degradation rate of 8.72 x 10(- 2)min(- 1). The improved efficiency is attributed to the increased interfacial electron-hole separation efficiency through the construction of La-ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) heterogeneous interfaces.