g-C3 N4 /N-doped CeO2 nanocomposites as effective dye catalyst: Fabrication, characterization and methylene blue dye degradation

Abstract

Abstract A New series of g-C3N4/N-doped CeO2 nanocomposites(g-C3N4/N-doped CeO2NCs) were prepared by using a simple dispersion method and its efficacy towards the photocatalytic activity has been studied. photocatalytic degradation of an organic dye(methylene blue) using the synthesized nanocomposites has been carried out. A detailed material characterization of fabricated g-C3N4/N-CeO2 NCs was also performed, including crystallinity, surface properties, band gap energy, excitation electron property, and chemical interaction analysis. The study reveals that coupling of g-C3N4/N-doped CeO2NCs improved the photocatalytic activity by diminishing the optical band gap energy of 2.85 eV of N-doped CeO2 photocatalyst. Furthermore, the g-C3N4/N-CeO2NCs exhibited an improved photocatalytic efficiency of methylene blue (MB) degradation viz., 97% while comparing the native form of N-doped CeO2 nanoparticles and g-C3N4 which showed 40% and 32% (60 min) efficiency respectively. This improvement in the efficiency of photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4/N-CeO2NCs may be ascribed to the strong electron transport abilities of g-C3N4 layers that could separate electron-hole pairs effectively.