Nanocomposite of exfoliated bentonite/g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic decomposition of Rhodamine B.

Novel visible-light-driven heterojunction photocatalyst comprising exfoliated bentonite, g-C3N4 and Ag3PO4 (EB/g-C3N4/Ag3PO4) was synthesized by a facile and green method. The composites EB/g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and the Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area method. Under visible light irradiation, EB/g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 composites displayed much higher photocatalytic activity than that of either pure g-C3N4 or pure Ag3PO4 in the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). Among the hybrid photocatalysts, EB/g-C3N4/Ag3PO4 composite containing 20 wt% Ag3PO4 exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity for the decolorization of RhB. Under the visible-light irradiation, the RhB dye was completely decolorized in less than 60 min. The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the stable structure, enlarged surface area, strong adsorbability, strong light absorption ability, and high-efficiency separation rate of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Our finding paves a way to design highly efficient and stable visible-light-induced photocatalysts for practical applications in wastewater treatment.