Ternary Composite of g-C3N4/ZnFe2O4/Fe2O3: Hydrothermal Synthesis and Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

摘要

A ternary composite of g-C3N4/ZnFe2O4/Fe2O3 was synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Structural and optical properties of the as-synthesized composites were characterized and the photocatalytic performances were evaluated via the degrada- tion of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. Results showed that this ternary composite exhibited a higher photo- catalytic activity compared to the binary ZnFe2O4/Fe2O3 systems in this research. The enhanced activity could be attributed to the stepped arrangement of the band structures of its components which enabled electron transfer from g-C3N4 to ZnFe2O4 then to Fe2O3 through the potential gradient, thus facilitating the charge separation and retarding their recombi- nation. Moreover, the g-C3N4/ZnFe2O4/Fe2O3 exhibited stable photochemical performance without obvious deterioration after five successive runs, while the ternary composites could be conveniently separated by using an external magnetic field, showing a promising application for the photo-oxidative degradation of organic contaminants.