Synthesis of g-C₃N₄/WO₃ Composites under Hydrothermal Conditions and Study of Their Photocatalytic Properties

Abstract

g-C3N4/WO3 composites have drawn great interest in heterogeneous photocatalysis due to their effective separation of charge carriers at the contact with semiconductor phases. In this work, we have studied the effect of hydrothermal conditions on composites’ structure and photocatalytic activities. Initial g-C3N4 was obtained using the classical melamine thermolysis approach. g-C3N4/WO3 composites were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions from acidic tungstate solutions. Structure and composition changes in g-C3N4 were described using FTIR-spectroscopy and CHNO-analysis. The synthesized composites were characterized by powder XRD and STEM analysis, which showed WO3 formation on the g-C3N4 surface. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated in the reaction of hydrogen peroxide generation from oxygen under UV irradiation. The obtained composites demonstrated up to three times higher photocatalytic activity than the individual semiconductor photocatalysts.

Keywords

• photocatalysis peroxide generation
• composite materials
• graphitic carbon nitride
• tungsten oxide
• hydrothermal synthesis