TY - JOUR
T1 - Reactive oxygen species
T2 - New insights into photocatalytic pollutant degradation over g-C3N4/ZnSe nanocomposite
AU - Ehsan, Muhammad Fahad
AU - Shafiq, Maryam
AU - Hamid, Saher
AU - Shafiee, Ali
AU - Usman, Muhammad
AU - Khan, Ibrahim
AU - Ashiq, Muhammad Naeem
AU - Arfan, Muhammad
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - This work reports the synthesis of g-C3N4, ZnSe and their nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of the congo red (CR) dye under visible-light irradiation. For the as-synthesized materials, their phase and morphology were confirmed by using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. In addition, other spectroscopic techniques including energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-visible diffuse reflectance (DRS) and electron spin resonance (ESR) were also used to study their physiochemical and optoelectronic properties. Based on the valence band (VB) positions from XPS and bandgap energies from UV-visible DRS, alignment of energy levels vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) was drawn which exhibited the formation of type-II heterostructure. The acquired degradation results reveal that the nanocomposite degrades 95.69% of the CR dye during 1 h of visible-light illumination, which is 1.57 and 1.81-folds higher than the degradation efficiency of bare ZnSe and g-C3N4, respectively. The promising results while using nanocomposite might be attributed to efficient interfacial charge transfer based on their type-II alignment. It has also been confirmed via ESR spectroscopy that the superoxide anion radical ([rad]O2−) acts as the primary oxidant for the CR degradation. The photocatalyst reusability and sustainability have also been investigated.
AB - This work reports the synthesis of g-C3N4, ZnSe and their nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of the congo red (CR) dye under visible-light irradiation. For the as-synthesized materials, their phase and morphology were confirmed by using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. In addition, other spectroscopic techniques including energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-visible diffuse reflectance (DRS) and electron spin resonance (ESR) were also used to study their physiochemical and optoelectronic properties. Based on the valence band (VB) positions from XPS and bandgap energies from UV-visible DRS, alignment of energy levels vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) was drawn which exhibited the formation of type-II heterostructure. The acquired degradation results reveal that the nanocomposite degrades 95.69% of the CR dye during 1 h of visible-light illumination, which is 1.57 and 1.81-folds higher than the degradation efficiency of bare ZnSe and g-C3N4, respectively. The promising results while using nanocomposite might be attributed to efficient interfacial charge transfer based on their type-II alignment. It has also been confirmed via ESR spectroscopy that the superoxide anion radical ([rad]O2−) acts as the primary oxidant for the CR degradation. The photocatalyst reusability and sustainability have also been investigated.
KW - Band Alignment
KW - ESR
KW - Nanocomposite
KW - Photocatalysis
KW - ROS
KW - g-CN
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089099465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147418
DO - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147418
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089099465
SN - 0169-4332
VL - 532
JO - Applied Surface Science
JF - Applied Surface Science
M1 - 147418
ER -