Fabrication of ternary CoO/g‐C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanocomposite with p‐n‐p type heterojunction for boosted visible‐light photocatalytic performance
Wenqiang Zhang, Weilong Shi, Haoran Sun, Yuxing Shi, Hao Luo, Shirong Jing, Yingqiang Fan, Feng Guo, Changyu Lu
Abstract
Abstract BACKGROUND Photocatalytic water treatment by using semiconductor material with low‐cost, along with green and environmental features, is the main candidate for the actual application of photocatalytic reactions. RESULTS The ternary CoO/g‐C 3 N 4 /Co 3 O 4 nanocomposite with p‐n‐p type heterojunction was fabricated through a one‐step solvothermal method follow‐up water washing process. The as‐prepared CoO/g‐C 3 N 4 /Co 3 O 4 nanocomposite photocatalyst exhibited high visible‐light photocatalytic efficiency (92% within 80 min) during the degradation of tetracycline (TC). The degradation rate constant of CoO/g‐C 3 N 4 /Co 3 O 4 nanocomposite is 0.025 min −1 , which is 8.3, 4.3 and 2.3 times higher than that of single CoO, g‐C 3 N 4 and binary CoO/g‐C 3 N 4 , respectively. CONCLUSION A series of characterization experiments further confirmed that the photocatalytic performance of the synthesized CoO/g‐C 3 N 4 /Co 3 O 4 composite materials was improved due to the following two points: (i) improved separation and migration ability of photo‐induced electron–hole pairs, and (ii) enhanced visible light absorption range. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).