Homogeneous iron-doped carbon-nitride-based organo-catalysts for sensational photocatalytic performance driven by visible light

In this study, Fe2O3/graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) composites were fabricated using a simple calcination method. Iron chloride and urea were used as starting precursors for preparation of heterojunction composites (Fe2O3/g-CN) by a quick stirring and calcination method. A sequence of Fe2O3/g-CN composites were obtained by putting a specific amount of Fe2O3 on the surface of g-CN at varied temperature (400, 450 and 500 degrees C). We accomplished a combined analysis using x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (FTIR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), elemental analysis spectra (EAS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photoluminescence spectra (Pl) of resulting samples. Our findings demonstrate that Fe/CNx composites demonstrating a significant improvement in the separation of photogenerated carriers and hole formation, leading towards momentous photocatalytic activity. For the first time, the as-synthesized composites were used for hydrogen production (water reduction) and methylene blue photodegradation under visible light illumination (lambda = 420 nm). The superior sample Fe/CN450 exhibits an exceptional photocatalytic efficiency in both electron generation (hydrogen evolution rate) and hole formation (photodegradation) with a rate of 91.1% at 180 min. Along with this, Fe/CN450 has excellent photochemical stability in hydrogen evolution and pollutant removal. The potential photocatalytic mechanism of Fe/CN450 composite is compared with experimental results to characterize the photocatalytic phenomenon as a whole. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry