Abstract:
The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) Ag/ZnO (CAZ)
nanocomposite heterostructure was prepared by the copyrolysis
of a precursor mixture containing melamine and nitrates of
zinc and silver. This one-pot synthetic approach facilitated the
incorporation of fine dispersions of Ag and ZnO on C3N4 sheets.
The CAZ sample thus prepared exhibited higher adsorption capacity
and enhanced sunlight-induced photocatalytic activity
towards tetracycline degradation when compared with compositions
of g-C3N4-Ag, g-C3N4-ZnO, ZnO-Ag, and g-C3N4. Incorpo-ration of ZnO helped to utilize the UV component of sunlight,
whereas ultrafine dispersions of Ag on the surface of the composite
created intimate interfaces, facilitating the direct migration
of photoinduced electrons to the Ag surface for an efficient
separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The present
work exemplifies a simple and convenient synthetic protocol
for processing the tricomponent heterostructured system of g-
C3N4-Ag/ZnO for the effective degradation of pollutants such
as tetracycline
