Black TiO2 nanobelts/g-C3N4 nanosheets Laminated Heterojunctions with Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

Black TiO2 nanobelts/g-C3 N4 nanosheets laminated heterojunctions (b-TiO2/g-C3 N4) as visible-light-driven photocatalysts are fabricated through a simple hydrothermal-calcination process and an in-situ solid-state chemical reduction approach, followed by the mild thermal treatment (350 °C) in argon atmosphere. The prepared samples are evidently investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 adsorption, and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. The results show that special laminated heterojunctions are formed between black TiO2 nanobelts and g-C3N4 nanosheets, which favor the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, the presence of Ti3+ and g-C3 N4 greatly enhance the absorption of visible light. The resultant b-TiO2/g-C3N4 materials exhibit higher photocatalytic activity than that of g-C3N4, TiO2, b-TiO2 and TiO2/g-C3N4 for degradation of methyl orange (95%) and hydrogen evolution (555.8 μmol h-1 g-1) under visible light irradiation. The apparent reaction rate constant (k) of b-TiO2/g-C3N4 is ∼9 times higher than that of pristine TiO2. Therefore, the high-efficient laminated heterojunction composites will have potential applications in fields of environment and energy.