Facile Synthesis of g-CN/TiO/Hectorite Z-Scheme Composite and Its Visible Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B.

A novel g-CN/TiO/hectorite Z-scheme composites with oxygen vacancy (Vo) defects and Ti were synthesized by so-gel method and high temperature solid phase reaction. This composite exhibited high visible photo-catalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). The apparent rate constant of g-CN/TiO/hectorite was 0.01705 min, which is approximately 5.38 and 4.88 times that of P25 and g-CN, respectively. The enhancement of photo-catalytic efficiency of the composites can be attributed to the great light harvesting ability, high specific surface area and effective separation of electrons(e) and holes(h). The F element from Hectorite causes the formation of Vo and Ti in TiO, making it responsive to visible light. The effective separation of e and h mainly results from Z-scheme transfer of photo-produced electrons in g-CN/TiO interface. The composites can be easily recycled and the degradation rate of the RhB still reached 84% after five cycles, indicating its good reusability.