3D graphene aerogel composite of 1D-2D Nb2O5-g-C3N4 heterojunction with excellent adsorption and visible-light photocatalytic performance

Zhennan Xu; Junxiang Jiang; Qianqian Zhang; Guobo Chen; Limin Zhou; Ling Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.12.002

3D graphene aerogel composite of 1D-2D Nb₂O₅-g-C₃N₄ heterojunction with excellent adsorption and visible-light photocatalytic performance

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Mar 15:563:131-138. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.12.002. Epub 2019 Dec 2.

Authors

Zhennan Xu¹, Junxiang Jiang¹, Qianqian Zhang², Guobo Chen¹, Limin Zhou¹, Ling Li³

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: qqzhang@ouc.edu.cn.
³ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: liling@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 31869584
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.12.002

Abstract

A novel three-dimensional graphene aerogel composite Nb₂O₅-g-C₃N₄/rGA was prepared, with a composition of nanorods-nanosheets Nb₂O₅-g-C₃N₄ (NbNR-CN) heterojunction and graphene aerogel (rGA). The 1D-2D NbNR-CN heterojunction was first prepared by a simple grinding and calcination method. Afterwards, different amounts of NbNR-CN (30%, 60%, 90%) were loaded onto graphene nanosheets by chemical reduction self-assembly method to obtain the 3D composites Nb₂O₅-g-C₃N₄/rGA (NbNR-CN/rGA). The compositions, morphologies, and optical properties of all materials were characterized. The results showed that the obtained 1D-2D heterojunctions were uniformly loaded onto rGA and the NbNR-CN/rGA composites had good visible light response. Compared with g-C₃N₄, NbNR and NbNR-CN, NbNR-CN/rGA showed the lowest charge transfer resistance and the highest photocurrent density. Photodegradation experiments indicated that the NbNR-CN/rGA composites exhibited remarkably enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The removal rate for the 60%NbNR-CN/rGA composite was 94.8% within 100 min. The enhanced photoactivity could be explained by prolonged lifetime of photogenerated carriers due to the formation of heterojunction as well as the good electron transfer ability of rGA. Our research demonstrated that the NbNR-CN/rGA composite is a promising candidate for visible-light photocatalyst.

Keywords: 1D-2D Nb(2)O(5)-g-C(3)N(4) heterojunction; Graphene aerogel; Nb(2)O(5)-g-C(3)N(4)/rGA; Visible-light photocatalyst.