Facile preparation of low-cost, environment-friendly, and high-performance Fe doped g-C3N4/Fe2O3 heterojunction photocatalyst for removing gaseous organic pollutant

Developing environmentally friendly and high performance photocatalyst is the key for the commercial application of photocatalytic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) degradation technologies. Here, a low-cost, nontoxic, stable and high-performance Fe doped g-C3N4/Fe2O3 heterojunction photocatalysts has been developed. When evaluated by photocatalytic gaseous isopropanol degradation, the optimal Fe doped g-C3N4/Fe2O3 heterojunction exhibited an improved photocatalytic activity, which is 22.2 times that of bulk g-C3N4, 3.7 times that of Fe doped g-C3N4, and 11.0 times that of Fe2O3, respectively. The introduce of Fe dopant can improve the transmission ability of charge carries in g-C3N4, furthermore, it makes the heterojunction of Fe doped g-C3N4/ Fe2O3 has strong internal electric field which is beneficial for the separation efficiency of photo-generated electrons and holes. In addition, it is believed that the large specific surface area contributed by Fe dopant and formaldehyde additive will further enhanced the photocatalytic activity. This useful Fe doped g-C3N4/Fe2O3 could have a promising application in air purification.