Ultrathin g‐C₃N₄ Nanosheets Coupled with AgIO₃ as Highly Efficient Heterostructured Photocatalysts for Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Abstract The photocatalytic activity of graphite‐like carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) could be enhanced by heterojunction strategies through increasing the charge‐separation efficiency. As a surface‐based process, the heterogeneous photocatalytic process would become more efficient if a larger contact region existed in the heterojunction interface. In this work, ultrathin g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets (g‐C 3 N 4 ‐NS) with much larger specific surface areas are employed instead of bulk g‐C 3 N 4 (g‐C 3 N 4 ‐B) to prepare AgIO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 ‐NS nanocomposite photocatalysts. By taking advantage of this feature, the as‐prepared composites exhibit remarkable performances for photocatalytic wastewater treatment under visible‐light irradiation. Notably, the optimum photocatalytic activity of AgIO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 ‐NS composites is almost 80.59 and 55.09 times higher than that of pure g‐C 3 N 4 ‐B towards the degradation of rhodamine B and methyl orange pollutants, respectively. Finally, the stability and possible photocatalytic mechanism of the AgIO 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 ‐NS system are also investigated.