Construction of mesoporous C3N4/rGO composite with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

A feasible template-free calcination method was carried out to synthesize the hybrid of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-C3N4) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with highly efficient photocatalytic ability. The morphology and microstructure of the heterojunction photocatalysts (mpg-C3N4/rGO) were characterized and discussed. The results revealed that the mpgC3N4/rGO exhibited high surface area 84.974 m2/g and mesoporous morphology, which provides tremendous contact area for rGO sheets. The introduction of rGO led to red-shift of the absorption spectrum and improved the conductive property of the mpg-C3N4/rGO, facilitating the transfer of photo-generated electrons. The formation of heterojunction provided an efficient transfer pathway to separate the photoinduced carriers. The mpg-C3N4/rGO heterojunction exhibited an enhanced visible light-activated degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). The RhB dye was almost removed within 40 min, exhibiting higher photocatalytic efficiency about 5.7 times that of pristine g-C3N4. The synergetic effect of mesporous framework and interface heterojunction contributes to the prominent performance of the photocatalyst.