Abstract
A graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) polymer matrix was embedded with AgNi alloy nanoparticles using a simple and direct in situ solid-state heat treatment method to develop a novel AgNi/g-C3N4 photocatalyst. The characterization confirms that the AgNi alloy particles are homogeneously distributed throughout the g-C3N4 matrix. The catalyst shows excellent photoelectrochemical activity for water splitting with a maximum photocurrent density of 1.2 mA cm2, which is the highest reported for doped g-C3N4. Furthermore, a detailed experi mental study of the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye using doped g-C3 N4 showed the highest reported degradation efficiency of approximately 95 % after 90 min. The electronic conductivity increased upon incorporation of AgNi alloy nanoparticles on g-C3N4 and the material showed efficient charge carrier separation and transfer characteristics, which are responsible for the enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance under visible light.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2816-2823 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | ChemSusChem |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 6 Oct 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Funding
A.P.S. is grateful to the Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi, India for financial support in terms of INSPIRE Faculty award No. IFA12-PH-16. N.B. thanks IIT Delhi for fellowship. S.K. thanks DST, Govt. of India for a fellowship. S.B. and P.P.I. thank DST, Govt. of India for funding the research. We also thank the NRF facility, IITD for photoelectrochemical measurements.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| IITD | |
| NRF facility | |
| Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India | IFA12-PH-16 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Delhi |
Keywords
- G-CN
- Metal doping
- Photocatalysis
- Photoelectrochemistry
- Water splitting
