Abstract
It is greatly desired to construct bifunctional photocatalysts to achieve extremely effective photocatalytic ability. Herein, RuO2 nanoparticles (10 nm), accommodated in porous g-C3N4 to construct mesoporous RuO2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions, were prepared utilizing a modified sol-gel process in the existence of soft surfactant. The synthesized RuO2/g-C3N4 heterostructures were employed as photocatalysts in the mineralization of trichloroethylene (TCE) in an aqueous solution through visible light. The synthesized RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites exhibited superior photocatalytic performance with 100% degradation of TCE within 150 min. The photodegradation rate of TCE of RuO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was remarkably promoted, compared with g-C3N4 and RuO2. The rate constant of 3%RuO2/g-C3N4 was determined to be 0.0127 min−1, which was 4.88 and 6.68 times higher than RuO2 (0.0026 min−1) and g-C3N4 (0.0019 min−1). This magnificent photocatalytic ability of RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites can be interpreted to highly crystalline RuO2 NPs with small size, enhanced electron and mass transfer, visible light harvest and heterojunction structure with a synergistic effect. Furthermore, the synthesized photocatalyst could be recycled for five cycles with insignificant remarkable diminish in its photocatalytic ability. Fortunately, the photocatalytic ability of RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for TCE mineralization exhibited varied advances by utilizing visible light at room temperature without the employ of any oxidant.
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•RuO2/g-C3N4 heterojunction was synthesized by novel soft template chemical process.•RuO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was employed in the mineralization of trichloroethylene.•RuO2/g-C3N4 exhibited superior TCE photodegradation 100% within 150 min.•The rate constant of 3%RuO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was 6.68 times higher than g-C3N4.•3%RuO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst exhibited stability after five consecutive cycles.