Construction of 2D/0D/2D Face-to-Face Contact g-C3N4@Au@Bi4Ti3O12 Heterojunction Photocatalysts for Degradation of Rhodamine B

Abstract

A type of two-dimensional/zero-dimensional/two-dimensional face-to-face contact g-C3N4@Au@Bi4Ti3O12 heterojunction ternary composite photocatalyst has been developed by coupling Bi4Ti3O12 nanosheets with g-C3N4 nanosheets face-to-face and sandwiching Au nanoparticles between them. The as-prepared photocatalysts were systematically investigated using various characterization techniques including x-ray powder diffraction analysis, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Degradation experiments were carried out to study the removal of rhodamine B from water under simulated sunlight, revealing that the g-C3N4@Au@Bi4Ti3O12 composite photocatalysts exhibited greatly enhanced photodegradation performance compared with bare Bi4Ti3O12 or g-C3N4 nanosheets, and moreover excellent photocatalytic stability during repeated dye degradation with recycling. The underlying photodegradation mechanism of the g-C3N4@Au@Bi4Ti3O12 composite photocatalysts was systematically investigated and is discussed herein.