Cheng Jiehong

Preparation of High Activity TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 Photocatalysts via a Facile Sol-gel Method with Ti(OBu) 4 as Ti Source and Melamine as Nitrogen Source

Abstract A highly active photocatalyst TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 was synthesized by a facile two-step method including sol-gel and calcination, using Ti(OBu) 4 as a Ti source and melamine as a nitrogen source. The resultant photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The results show that TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 is formed and TiO 2 is beset with graphite-like carbon nitride of layer structure. TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 exhibits obviously enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity, and the degradation efficiency of Methylene blue (MB) reaches 94.46% after irradiation for 1 h, which is much higher than that of g-C 3 N 4 and TiO 2 . The improved photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 is attributable to its wide spectrum responsive range, strong visible light adsorption capability, and the synergistic effect between TiO 2 and g-C 3 N 4 . The mechanism of photocatalytic reaction was discussed.