Novel Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye under visible led light irradiation

Abstract

Using Bi2MoO6 and g-C3N4, a novel visible-light-responsive Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalyst was hydrothermally synthesized. The degradation of an emerging dye pollutant, Methylene Blue (MB), under visible LED light irradiation was used to assess the photocatalytic efficiency of the nanocomposite materials. The 10Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 nanocomposite was found to have the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency toward MB at an optimum mass ratio of 10% (Bi2MoO6 to g-C3N4). Under 60 minutes of visible 20W LED light irradiation, photocatalytic degradation of MB (20 mg/l) by 10Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 (1 g/l), was 92.45%, which was about 1.84 and 2.18 times higher as compared to that of pure Bi2MoO6 and g-C3N4 respectively. This improved performance was linked to the formation of Z-scheme heterojunctions, which resulted in better visible light absorption and less recombination of photo generated electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, the 10Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 nanocomposite was found to remove about 92% of COD. The findings not only show how to construct the Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 nanocomposite for successful low-cost and energy-efficient photocatalytic degradation of recalcitrant pollutants, but they also encourage the development of similar photocatalysts targeting environmental remediation