Graphitic carbon nitride/ferroferric oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as highly active visible light photocatalyst

Abstract

High stability and efficient charge separation are two critical factors to construct high-performance photocatalysts. Here, an efficient strategy was provided to fabricate the nanocomposite of graphitic carbon nitride/ferroferric oxide/reduced graphene oxide (g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO). The degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) by g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite exhibited excellent stability and magnetically separable performance. It was ascertained that the quantum efficiency and separation efficiency of photoexcited charge carriers of g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite were obviously improved. Particularly, the g-C3N4/Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposite with 3 wt.% RGO presented 100% degradation efficiency under visible light irradiation for 75 min. The remarkable photocatalytic degradation activity is attributed to the synergistic interactions among g-C3N4, Fe3O4, and RGO, along with the efficient interfacial charge separation.