Rong Yin

Preparation and visible-light photocatalytic performances of g-C3N4 surface hybridized with a small amount of CdS nanoparticles

An efficient visible-light photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by surface-hybridizing graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) using a small amount of cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles. The CdS/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and photocurrent–time measurement. The photocatalytic activity of the CdS/g-C3N4 nanocomposites was investigated by evaluating the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. The effects of the CdS content on the nanocomposites, initial RhB concentration, pH value of the investigated system, and dosage of CdS/g-C3N4 nanocomposites on the visible-light photocatalytic activity were systematically investigated. The results revealed that the visible-light photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4-based photocatalysts was significantly improved by surface-hybridization of a small amount of CdS nanoparticles, increased as both CdS content on the nanocomposites and dosage of CdS/g-C3N4 nanocomposites increased, while increased at first and then decreased as both initial RhB concentration and pH value of the investigated system increased. The visible-light photocatalytic mechanism of the CdS/g-C3N4 nanocomposites was discussed.

Preparation and characterization of silver/g-carbon nitride/chitosan nanocomposite with photocatalytic activity

ABSTRACT In this work, a visible-light-driven catalyst of Ag/g-C3N4/Chitosan (Ag/g-C3N4/CS) was developed by a facile soniation-assisted method at room temperature. The surface morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition of the as-prepared catalyst was systematically characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). The photocatalytic activity of Ag/g-C3N4/CS nanocomposite was evaluated on the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) without separating AgNPs/RGO nanocomposite from the synthesis systems. The result shows that the as-prepared nanocomposite exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity.