Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity of g-C3N4 Based Metal Chalcogenides Nanacomposites

Abstract

Limiting the use of fossil fuels is a great step in reducing environmental pollution. But since it is most widely used, a thoughtful alternative must be introduced. One such alternative is solar energy, restricting the degradation of organic pollutants and reducing industrial waste. In this work, we account the synthesis of heterostructures of graphitic carbon nitride with metal chalcogenides specifically ZnSe and ZnTe via one pot hydrothermal route at low temperature and high pressure. The as synthesized photocatalysts were primarily used for the degradation of azo dye specifically the Congo Red dye. The prepared products were first characterized with different characterization techniques. XRD spectroscopy was done to study the crystal structure, purity and phase of the heterostructures. Moreover, with XRD data, parameters like crystallite sizes and cell volumes of prepared photocatalysts were also calculated. Morphological analysis and elemental composition in the synthesized photocatalysts was also confirmed using SEM and DX spectroscopy respectively. The alignment of energy levels is an important parameter to determine the pathway of photocatalytic reactions and it was determined with the help of UVvisible spectroscopy as well as XPS analysis from the literature to find the valence band position. Finally, the as synthesized nanocomposites g-C3N4/ZnSe and g-C3N4 /ZnTe were used for the photocatalytic degradation of dye under UV-visible irradiation. These nanocomposites showed the maximum Photocatalytic degradation efficiency upto 90% and 83% respectively as observed with the efficiency of g-C3N4, ZnSe and ZnTe. The higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency was endorsed to the efficient separation of charges.