Construction of SnO2/graphene-like g-C3N4 with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In this work, SnO₂/graphene-like g-C₃N₄ (SnO₂/GL-C₃N₄) composite photocatalysts with large surface areas and abundant coupling heterointerfaces were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The as-prepared photocatalysts exhibited distinctly manifested efficient visible light activities toward organic pollutant degradation, demonstrating remarkable synergistic effects between SnO₂ and graphene-like g-C₃N₄ (GL-C₃N₄). The 25 wt% SnO₂/GL-C₃N₄ composite showed optimal photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation, which was almost 9 and 2.5 times as high as that of SnO₂ and GL-C₃N₄, respectively. In addition, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of rhodamine B (RhB) degradation by SnO₂/GL-C₃N₄ under visible light was also discussed in detail. Moreover, this work would provide a facile way for the fabrication of novel two dimension/two dimension (2D/2D) GL-C₃N₄-based photocatalysts with high and stable performance for pollutant degradation.