Magnetically separable Fe2O3/g-C3N4 catalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity

A two-step method was developed to prepare magnetic separable Fe2O3/g-C3N4 photocatalysts. The samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The magnetic capability of the samples was investigated by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The crystal phase and the magnetic property of the Fe2O3 can be tuned by changing the calcination temperature. The Fe2O3/g-C3N4 photocatalyst showed enhanced photoactivity in degrading the rhodamine B (RhB) dye. Among the samples, the 10% Fe2O3/g-C3N4 showed the highest photocatalytic activity. It can degrade about 96.7% RhB in 4 h. The photocurrent results confirm that the combination of the two materials is beneficial for the separation of electron-hole pairs. The electron spin resonance (ESR) results indicates that O-center dot(2)- and (OH)-O-center dot are the main active species in the degradation process.