Synthesis and characterization of g-C3N4/BiFeO3 composites with an enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract The novel visible light-induced g-C 3 N 4 /BiFeO 3 composites were successfully synthesized by introducing BiFeO 3 into polymeric g-C 3 N 4 . The structures and optical properties of composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field-emission transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), respectively. For the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), the g-C 3 N 4 /BiFeO 3 composites exhibited significantly higher visible light photocatalytic activity than that of a single semiconductor. The optimal percentage of doped g-C 3 N 4 was 50%. Both photooxidation and photoreduction processes follow first order kinetics. In addition, the stability of the prepared photocatalyst in the photocatalytic process was also investigated. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be due to the high separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron–holes pairs. The possible photocatalytic mechanism of g-C 3 N 4 /BiFeO 3 was proposed to guide the further improvement of their photocatalytic activity.