Photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction to CH<sub>4</sub> and Dye Degradation Using Bismuth Oxychloride/Bismuth Oxyiodide/Graphitic Carbon Nitride (BiO<sub>m</sub>Cl<sub>n</sub>/BiO<sub>p</sub>I<sub>q</sub>/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>) Nanocomposite with Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity

oleh: Yong-Ming Dai, Wu-Tsan Wu, Yu-Yun Lin, Hsiao-Li Wu, Szu-Han Chen, Jih-Mirn Jehng, Jia-Hao Lin, Fu-Yu Liu, Chiing-Chang Chen

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-03-01

Deskripsi

The use of visible-light-driven photocatalysts in wastewater treatment, photoreduction of CO<sub>2</sub>, green solar fuels, and solar cells has elicited substantial research attention. Bismuth oxyhalide and its derivatives are a group of visible-light photocatalysts that can diminish electron–hole recombination in layered structures and boost photocatalytic activity. The energy bandgap of these photocatalysts lies in the range of visible light. A simple hydrothermal method was applied to fabricate a series of bismuth oxychloride/bismuth oxyiodide/grafted graphitic carbon nitride (BiO<sub>m</sub>Cl<sub>n</sub>/BiO<sub>p</sub>I<sub>q</sub>/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>) sheets with different contents of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>. The fabricated sheets were characterized through XRD, TEM, SEM-EDS, XPS, UV-vis DRS, PL, and BET. The conversion efficiency of CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to CH<sub>4</sub> of BiO<sub>m</sub>Cl<sub>n</sub>/BiO<sub>p</sub>I<sub>q</sub> of 4.09 μmol g<sup>−1</sup> can be increased to 39.43 μmol g<sup>−1</sup> by compositing with g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>. It had an approximately 9.64 times improvement. The photodegradation rate constant for crystal violet (CV) dye of BiO<sub>m</sub>Cl<sub>n</sub>/BiO<sub>p</sub>I<sub>q</sub> of <i>k</i> = 0.0684 can be increased to 0.2456 by compositing with g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>. It had an approximately 3.6 times improvement. The electron paramagnetic resonance results and the quenching effects indicated that <sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub>, •OH, h<sup>+</sup>, and •O<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup> were active species in the aforementioned photocatalytic degradation. Because of their heterojunction, the prepared ternary nanocomposites possessed the characteristics of a heterojunction of type II band alignment.