A Simple Approach to Prepare a C₃N₄/MoO₃ Heterojunction with Improved Photocatalytic Performance for the Degradation of Methylparaben

Abstract

The adequate optical properties, low cost, and thermal stability of graphitic carbon nitride and molybdenum oxide make them both promising materials for photocatalytic applications. However, they both suffer from strong recombination of their photogenerated charge carriers. Therefore, searching for strategies that enable an efficient charge carrier separation is desirable for improving the photocatalytic performance of both semiconductors. In this work, we have synthesized a g-C3N4/MoO3 heterojunction by a facile solid dispersion approach to the pristine semiconductors that allows a uniform dispersion of the two phases in the heterojunction. The resulting hybrid photocatalyst exhibits light absorption features similar to pristine g-C3N4 and presents an improved separation of the photogenerated charge carriers, likely through a Z-scheme between both semiconductor phases, as inferred by photoelectrochemical measurements. As a result, the g-C3N4/MoO3 heterojunction showed better photocatalytic activity than the individual semiconductors and good cycling stability for the degradation of methylparaben and its reaction intermediates. We drew these conclusions based on total organic carbon (TOC) measurements.

Keywords

• methylparaben degradation
• water emergent contaminants
• solid state heterojunction
• photocatalysis
• carbon nitride
• molybdenum oxide