A g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 composite with high visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity for rhodamine B degradation

Novel composite photocatalyst g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 has been synthesized by a simple mixed-calcinations method. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). The g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 composites showed high efficiency for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The optimum photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 with molar ratio of 1:2 under visible light irradiation was almost 3.1 and 14.2 times as high as those of the pure g-C3N4 and Bi2O2CO3, respectively. The enhancement of visible light photocatalytic activity in g-C3N4/Bi2O2CO3 should be assigned to the effective separation and transfer of photogenerated charges originating from the well-matched overlapping band-structures. The supposed photocatalytic mechanism was verified by the result of photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and active species trapping experiments. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.