Fabrication of visible light-responsive dual Z-Scheme (α-Fe2O3/CdS/g-C3N4) ternary nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic performance and adsorption study in aqueous suspension

We report dual Z-Scheme-derived photocatalysts to increae photocatalytic efficiency towards the degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous suspension with atmospheric oxygen under visible light irradiation. A ternary nanocomposite FCG (alpha-Fe2O3/CdS/g-C3N4) have been synthesized through the hydrothermal route via a solidstate method, which was characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), FT-IR (Fourier transforms IR spectroscopy), DRS (UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy), and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). The absorption edge of FCG ternary nanocomposites showed a bathochromic shift as paralleled to the pure CdS, alpha-Fe2O3, g-C3N4, and CdS/g-C3N4 (binary nanocomposite). The photocatalyst 5 wt% alpha-Fe2O3/CdS/g-C3N4 ternary nanocomposite (5 wt% FCG) showed substantial photocatalytic performance towards methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) dye degradation in aqueous suspension using visible light irradiation. The improved photocatalytic response may be accredited to sustained charge separation ability via a double Z-Scheme charge transmission procedure, as evident by the accumulation of alpha-Fe2O3 and CdS on the g-C3N4 surface. Also, a dark adsorption study was performed wherein the recorded adsorption kinetics of RhB and MB indicate pseudo-second-order in both cases. The synthesized 5 wt% FCG nanocomposite is anticipated to have countless abilities in photocatalytic performance and adsorption study as well.

Automated summary

Dual Z-Scheme-derived photocatalysts have been developed to increase the efficiency of degrading organic pollutants in aqueous suspension under visible light irradiation. The ternary nanocomposite FCG showed substantial photocatalytic performance towards dye degradation.