Composites of W<sub>18</sub>O<sub>49</sub> Nanowires with g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/RGO Nanosheets for Broadband Light-Driven Photocatalytic Wastewater Purification
Yanting Dou, Yu Gao, Deng Gu, Jiqi Zheng, Bo Zhang, XiuXin Li, Meijia He, Qinglong Zou, Tiaoli Liao, Fu Ding, Ya‐Guang Sun, Zhenhe Xu
Abstract
Developing a photocatalyst that can effectively utilize the full solar spectrum remains a high-priority objective in the ongoing pursuit of efficient light-to-chemical energy conversion. Herein, the ternary nanocomposite g-C 3 N 4 /RGO/W 18 O 49 (CN/RGO/WO) was constructed and characterized by a variety of techniques. Remarkably, under the excitation of photon energies ranging from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) region, the photocatalytic performance of the CN/RGO/WO nanocomposite exhibited a significant enhancement compared with single component g-C 3 N 4 or W 18 O 49 nanosheets for the degradation of methyl orange (MO). The MO photodegradation rate of the optimal CN/1.0 wt% RGO/45.0 wt% WO catalyst reached 0.816 and 0.027 min –1 under UV and visible light excitation, respectively. Even under low-energy NIR light, which is not sufficient to excite g-C 3 N 4, the MO degradation rate can still reach 0.0367 h –1, exhibiting a significant enhancement than pure W 18 O 49 . The outstanding MO removal rate and stability were demonstrated by CN/RGO/WO nanocomposites, which arise from the synergistic effect of localized surface plasmon resonance effect induced by W 18 O 49 under vis–NIR excitation and the Z-scheme nanoheterojunction of W 18 O 49 and g-C 3 N 4 . In this work, we have exploited the great potential of integrating nonmetallic plasmonic nanomaterials and good conductor RGO to construct high-performance g-C 3 N 4 -based full-solar spectral broadband photocatalysts.