Effects of iron oxide contents on photocatalytic performance of nanocomposites based on g-C3N4

M Afkari; S M Masoudpanah; M Hasheminiasari; S Alamolhoda

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33338-1

Effects of iron oxide contents on photocatalytic performance of nanocomposites based on g-C₃N₄

Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 17;13(1):6203. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33338-1.

Authors

M Afkari¹, S M Masoudpanah¹, M Hasheminiasari², S Alamolhoda¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran.
² School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran. mhashemi@iust.ac.ir.

Abstract

α-Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites were prepared in-situ by solution combustion as magnetically separable photocatalysts using ferric nitrate as oxidant, glycine as organic fuel, and g-C₃N₄. The effects of various amounts of iron oxides, on the magnetic, optical, and photocatalytic properties were explored by different characterization methods. The magnetite (Fe₃O₄) phase as ferrimagnetic material disappeared with the increase in ferric nitrate contents, leading to the decrease of magnetic properties. The bandgap energy decreased from 2.8 to 1.6 eV with the increase of the hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) phase.The photocatalytic results showed that the type and amount of iron oxides had a significant effect on the decolorization of methylene blue, rhodamine B and methyl orange dyes under visible-light irradiation. The activity of the nanocomposite sample containing 37 wt. % iron oxides was more effective than that of the pristine g-C₃N₄ sample to photodegrade the methylene blue, rhodamine B and methyl orange, respectively. Moreover, the nanocomposites exhibited a higher photocurrent density than that of the pristine g-C₃N₄, mainly due to their lower charge recombination rate.