Design of novel Z-scheme g-CN/TiO/CuCoO heterojunctions for efficient visible light-driven photocatalyic degradation of rhodamine B.

One of the most important environmental challenges that needs to be resolved is the industrial discharge of synthetic dyes. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN), Titanium dioxide (TiO) and flower-like copper oxide (CuO)/copper cobaltite (CuCoO) nanocomposites were synthesized in order to synthesis an effective visible light driven photocatalyst that could degrade Rhodamin B (Rh.B) dye under simulated solar light irradiation. The SEM and TEM results verifies that the flower-like CuO/CuCoO (CCO) structure and g-CN/TiO (g-CN/TO) generated a smart hybrid structure with superior g-CN distribution. According to the photocatalytic studies, g- CN/TiO/CuO/CuCoO (g-CN/TO/CCO) shows good photodegradation of Rh.B dye (99.9%) in minmal times (1 h) in CCO: g-CN/TO (2:1) ratio by Z-Scheme mechanism. The enhanced visible light absorption and effective electron-hole pair separation provided by the synergistic dispersion of CuO/CuCoO and g-CN can be attributed to the improved photocatalytic performances. These novel insights into g-CN/TO/CCO based photocatalysts are useful for treating industrial effluent.