Sago-shaped embedded Nanolayers of WO3/NiO/gC3N4 Nanohybrids for natural degradation of environmental pollutants: A photocatalytic sunlight mediated approach

Abstract

In recent years the applicability of semiconductor nanomaterials is almost in every field of science and technology. In the current study, hybrid nanomaterials containing tungsten trioxide (WO3) and nickel oxide (NiO) supported on graphitic carbon nitride (gC3N4) were prepared by a simple hydrothermal technique. Synthesis was sequential requiring the individual preparation of gC3N4 and WO3 as preliminary. The desired composition of gC3N4, WO3, nickel nitrate, and a base was transferred to an autoclave and maintained at 180°C for 18 h. The resulting inorganic/organic hybrid was filtered, washed, dried, and named as inorganic/organic hybrid nanocomposite (HNC). Various compositions of HNC were prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), Ultra Violet-Visible Diffuse reflectance spectrometer (UV–Vis-DRS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The FE-SEM images showed a sago-shaped embedded particle in gC3N4 layers with a 40–60 nm particle size. The band gap energy was found to be 2.69 eV from UV–Vis-DRS analysis. This proves the promising activity of sago-shaped HNC under sunlight radiation. Various preliminary and kinetic studies were conducted, and HNC possessed excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of an organic dye under sunlight. The photocatalytic activity for the degradation of dye by the prepared HNC was found to be two-fold when compared to the activity of pristine gC3N4 under sunlight irradiation.

Keywords

• Graphitic carbon nitride
• Hydrothermal synthesis
• Inorganic/organic nanohybrids
• Photocatalysis
• Solar Irradiation