Facile synthesis of a GO-g-CN/BaTiO ternary nanocomposites for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B.

Photogenerated charge carriers can undergo rapid recombination in conventional photocatalyst systems, reducing their photocatalytic efficiency. To address this bottleneck, a g-CN/BaTiO (CNB) heterojunction composite was decorated with different mass ratios of graphene oxide (GO) to form a novel visible-light responsive ternary GO-g-CN/BaTiO (GOCNB) nanocomposite using a facile fabrication method. The GOCNB photocatalyst exhibited significantly higher light absorption and greater charge transfer than CNB, g-CN, or BaTiO. The photodegradation performance of GOCNB was optimized with a 2% mass loading of GO, and it achieved a degradation rate constant of 14.9 × 10 min for rhodamine B with an efficiency of 94% within 180 min. The rate constant was 8-fold and 6-fold higher than that of bare BaTiO and CNB, respectively. The stronger photocatalytic activity was attributed to the synergistic effect of GO, g-CN, and BaTiO, with g-CN and BaTiO promoting charge transfer within a wider visible light range and GO promoting electron mobility and the photocatalyst's adsorption capacity. In particular, the proposed system maintained the spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, which is vital for high photocatalytic activity. This study provides new insights into semiconductor-based photocatalytic systems and suggests a route for more environmentally sustainable technologies.