Visible light driven reduced graphene oxide supported ZnMgAl LTH/ZnO/g-C3N4 nanohybrid photocatalyst with notable two-dimension formation for enhanced photocatalytic activity towards organic dye degradation

Abstract

In this study, 2D/2D/2D heterostructured r-GO/LTH/ZnO/g-C₃N₄ nanohybrid were synthesized through hydrothermal method. The strong electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged g-C₃N₄ and r-GO nanosheets with positively charged layered triple hydroxide (LTH) nanosheets are effectively influences the successful formation of heterojunction. The LTH nanosheets are well spread on the g-C₃N₄ nanosheets combined with r-GO. In particular, the as prepared heterojunction shows a better photocatalytic degradation activity compared to pristine samples and the significant enhancement in the photocatalytic performance is mainly accredited to the large interfacial charge transition of photogenerated charge carriers under the visible light irradiation. Although the 2D/2D/2D heterojunction effectively hinders the charge carrier recombination resulting high photocatalytic activity with good stability. In addition, the r-GO supported LTH/ZnO/g-C₃N₄ heterojunction shows high photo-stability after sequential experimental runs with no obvious change in the dye degradation process. Consequently, the role of active species was investigated over the r-GO/LTH/ZnO/g-C₃N₄ heterojunction with the help of different scavengers.

Keywords: Dye degradation; Graphitic carbon nitrate; Layered triple hydroxide; Photocatalytic activity; Reduced graphene oxide.