Superior nanoporous graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst coupled with CdS quantum dots for photodegradation of RhB

• Nanoporous g-C3N4 was first used to couple with CdS QDs to improve the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst.
• The unique structure of nanoporous g-C3N4 can make g-C3N4 and CdS QDs have a stable combination and direct a good dispersion of the CdS QDs.
• The combination of nanoporous g-C3N4 and CdS QDs can overcome their own drawbacks simultaneously.
• The obtained composites possess a broader absorbance range of visible light than that of each component.
• The obtained photocatalyst exhibits superior photocatalytic activity and good stability.

Nanoporous graphitic carbon nitride (npg-C3N4) shows much higher photocatalytic activities than bulk g-C3N4. Npg-C3N4 was used to couple with CdS quantum dots (QDs) by a simple deposition method to further increase the photocatalytic activities of the photocatalyst. The obtained photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and XPS techniques; nitrogen adsorption isotherms, SEM and TEM images; and UV–vis DRS and Photoluminescence spectra. Results showed that the CdS QDs had been successfully deposited onto the surface of npg-C3N4 with a good dispersion, and the two components formed stable composites because the CdS QDs can be anchored by the rolled and curled edges of npg-C3N4. The as-prepared CdS QDs/npg-C3N4 composites not only exhibited extended optical absorptions of visible light (up to 600 nm) and enhanced photocatalytic activity for the photodegradation of Rhodamine B than each of the components, but also showed good catalytic stability.

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