Unraveling the synergy between oxygen doping and embedding Fe nanoparticles in gC3N4 towards enhanced photocatalytic rates
- Title
- Unraveling the synergy between oxygen doping and embedding Fe nanoparticles in gC3N4 towards enhanced photocatalytic rates
- Creator
- Yadav A.; Gupta S.; Bhagat B.R.; Yadav M.; Dashora A.; Varma R.S.; Thorat N.; Patel R.; Patel N.
- Description
- With graphitic carbon nitride (gC3N4) showing considerable potential for photocatalytic applications, the four significant limitations: surface area, light-harvesting capability, photogenerated charge separation, and charge transfer at the interface, need to be comprehensively addressed. The present work aims to exfoliate the gC3N4 stacking layers and fragment the layers horizontally to form ultra-thin nanosheets (NS) by a facile mixed-acid treatment. The surface area of gC3N4 increased by one order of magnitude (120 m2/g), due to the formation of nanosheets with planar size below ?50 nm. Moreover, incorporating non-metal (oxygen) anion dopants and metal (iron) nanoparticles enhances the overall reactivity of gC3N4 NS under light irradiation. Co-integration of these strategies led to ?17 times improvement in the photocatalytic pollutants degradation rate compared to pristine gC3N4. First-principles calculations and experimental evidence suggest the formation of an intermediate band within the bandgap of gC3N4, caused by the hybridization of N-Fe-O, which assists in harvesting a larger number of photons. Nanosheet morphology provides a shorter distance to photogenerated charges towards the surface, while the incorporation of Fe and O together offers the lowest charge transfer resistance at the interface to efficiently degrade the adsorbed pollutant molecules on the surface. With all these promoting features along with cost-effective and stable elements, Fe-O-gC3N4 NS provides an ideal solution for tuning the intrinsic morphological and electronic structure of gC3N4 for its effective application in various photocatalytic reactions. 2022
- Source
- Applied Surface Science, Vol-603
- Date
- 2022-01-01
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V.
- Subject
- Doping; gC3N4; Intermediate band; Ultra-thin nanosheets
- Coverage
- Yadav A., Department of Physics, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, 400098, India; Gupta S., Advanced Materials Department, Joef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia; Bhagat B.R., Physics Department, Faculty of Science, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, 390002, India; Yadav M., Department of Physics, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, 400098, India; Dashora A., Physics Department, Faculty of Science, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, 390002, India; Varma R.S., Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, 400 019, India; Thorat N., Department of Physics, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, 400098, India; Patel R., Department of Physics and Electronics, Christ University, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Patel N., Department of Physics and Electronics, Christ University, Bengaluru, 560029, India
- Rights
- Restricted Access
- Relation
- ISSN: 1694332; CODEN: ASUSE
- Format
- Online
- Language
- English
- Type
- Article
Collection
Citation
Yadav A.; Gupta S.; Bhagat B.R.; Yadav M.; Dashora A.; Varma R.S.; Thorat N.; Patel R.; Patel N., “Unraveling the synergy between oxygen doping and embedding Fe nanoparticles in gC3N4 towards enhanced photocatalytic rates,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed February 24, 2025, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/14846.