Feature ArticleFabrication of an all solid Z-scheme photocatalyst g-C3N4/GO/AgBr with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

•All solid Z-scheme g-C3N4/GO/AgBr photocatalyst is successfully prepared.•GO as the charge transmission bridge between g-C3N4 and AgBr promotes the formation of Z-scheme photocatalyst.•The photocatalyst shows enhanced photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation.•Possible mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic performance is proposed.

In this work, an excellent ternary visible-light all solid Z-scheme photocatalytic heterojunction of g-C3N4/GO/AgBr has been prepared by the attachment of graphene oxide (GO) to the surface of g-C3N4, followed by in-situ growth of AgBr nanoparticles on GO sheets. The g-C3N4/GO/AgBr heterojunction exhibits excellent photocatalytic efficiency for RhB degradation, which is about 17.5, 7.9, 3.5, 4.0 and 2.2 times as high as that of P25, g-C3N4, AgBr, g-C3N4/GO and g-C3N4/AgBr heterojunction, indicating the introduction of GO into the system largely improved the capability of the photocatalysis since GO acted as the charge transmission bridge between g-C3N4 and AgBr. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4/GO/AgBr just showed a slight decrease after 4 degradation cycles, demonstrating a high stability of the g-C3N4/GO/AgBr photocatalyst. The photocatalytic mechanism investigation indicated that O2− and h+ are the major active species in the photocatalytic process. It is expected that the GO-inserted Z-scheme photocatalytic heterojunction could be applied to practical pollutant degradation.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (239KB)Download full-size image