Facile fabrication of g-C3N4/SnO2 composites and ball milling treatment for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Publication date: Available online 18 June 2019Source: Journal of Alloys and CompoundsAuthor(s): Kaixing Zhu, Yang Lv, Jing Liu, Wenjun Wang, Chunping Wang, Songmei Li, Peng Wang, Meng Zhang, Alan Meng, Zhenjiang LiAbstractUltrafine SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters of 2–4 nm were in situ fabricated on the surfaces of g-C3N4 material through a hydrothermal method. Ball milling was then applied to treat the obtained g-C3N4/SnO2 composites in order to improve the dispersion of SnO2 NPs as well as to strengthen the bonding between SnO2 and g-C3N4. The enhanced separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers, as indicated by the photoluminescence spectrum, was achieved after the ball milling treatment. Consequently, the ball milled g-C3N4/SnO2 composite demonstrated significantly improved photocatalytic performance when degrading crystal violet, as evidenced by photodegradation efficiency enhancements of 5.06 and 3.23 times, respectively, when compared with bulk g-C3N4 and the in situ synthesized g-C3N4/SnO2 composite; these improvements were due to more usable and accessible electronic transport sites at the interfaces of the composites.
Source: Journal of Alloys and Compounds - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research