Synthesis and characterization of G-C3N4 @ ZnO photo catalyst on removal of toxic pollutants

Abstract

g-C3N4@ZnO, pristine ZnO, g-C3N4 nanocomposites were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal approach using urea, zinc nitrate hexahydrate, and hexamethylenetetramine as constituents. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were used to characterize the g-C3N4@ZnO nanocomposites. The photocatalytic efficiency of g-C3N4@ZnO, pristine ZnO, g-C3N4 nanocomposites was tested using a nitrophenol decomposition test under solar light illumination. The photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4@ZnO nanocomposites was higher than that of pure ZnO and elevated with the g-C3N4 material. Whenever the g-C3N4 content was the photocatalytic activity reached its peak efficiency of 97.8 percent. Moreover, the ZnO/gC3N4 photocatalyst could be reused several times without appreciable loss of activity, showing great potential to be an excellent candidate for environmental remediation.