Facile synthesis and catalytic performance of nanosheet – nanorods g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 heterojunction catalyst and effect of silver nanoparticles loading on bare Bi2WO6 and g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 for N-deethylation process

• A heterojunction g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 with intimate interface was synthesized.
• Complete quenching in N-deethylation process was found with 1% Ag loaded samples.
• Reduction in PL signal due to low electron hole recombination was observed.
• Ag/g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 and Ag/Bi2WO6 showed superior photocatalytic activity.
• HRTEM images confirmed the presence of interface between g-C3N4 sheets and Bi2WO6.

Bi2WO6 nano-rods and g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 heterojunction and their corresponding silver loaded nanocatalysts were synthesized and characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, photoluminescence (PL), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). FE-SEM micrographs indicates that g-C3N4 nano-sheets are agglomerated with WO3 particles and Bi2WO6 nanorods in g-C3N4-WO3 and g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 catalysts respectively whereas, HR-TEM images confirmed the presence of interface between g-C3N4 sheets and Bi2WO6 nano-rods, and dispersion of less than 10 nm Ag particles over the heterojunction. A significant reduction in PL signal due to reduced electron hole recombination and consequent enhancement of catalytic activity were observed with the Ag/g-C3N4-Bi2WO6 catalyst. On bare Bi2WO6 nano-rods, N-deethylation was found to be the prominent degradation pathway and with 1% silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), this is fully quenched and ring closure pathway accounts for the dye degradation. In addition, performance of our catalyst was benchmarked with commercially available visible light driven photo-catalysts. The appropriate band positions for reduction and oxidation reactions, with the reduced charge recombination make this heterojunction suitable for applications like water splitting and other environmental applications.

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