NiO/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> p–n Heterojunctions Wrapped by rGO for the Enhanced CO<sub>2</sub> Photocatalytic Reduction
Feifei Tao, Yali Dong, Lingang Yang
Abstract
A ternary photocatalyst composed of NiO nanosheets, g-C 3 N 4 nanowires, and monolayer graphene was successfully synthesized and used for the effective photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to CO and CH 4 . Various techniques were adopted to characterize the morphology, structure, and composition of the NiO/g-C 3 N 4 /rGO ternary composite. The significant synergistic interaction of graphene, NiO nanosheets, and g-C 3 N 4 nanowires was confirmed. The NiO/g-C 3 N 4 /rGO ternary photocatalyst produced an average CO and CH 4 outputs of 22.92 and 5.25 μmol g –1 h –1, respectively, which is 8.3 and 2.9 times greater than those of NiO/g-C 3 N 4 . A putative photocatalytic mechanism for CO 2 reduction is proposed. It is thought that the construction of p–n heterojunctions and graphene’s high-electron conduction capacity aid in photocatalytic CO 2 reduction, which is predicted to be used in photocatalysis.