Zn3(OH)2V2O7·2H2O/g-C3N4: A novel composite for efficient photodegradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation

In this work, we used a facile method to prepare a series of Zn3(OH)2V2O7·2H2O/g-C3N4 composites in a 70 °C water bath for 10 h and characterized them by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and photoluminescence (PL). Degradation of methylene blue (MB) and phenol were carried out to evaluate the photocatalytic activities of samples under visible light irradiation. Presence of Zn3(OH)2V2O7·2H2O increased surface areas and promoted the charge separation, exerted great influence on the photocatalytic activity and absorption capacity of g-C3N4. In addition, the synergic effect was explained and a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.