Construction of heterogeneous structures of MIL-101(Fe)/Ce/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

A heterostructured MIL-101(Fe)/Ce/g-C 3 N 4 (MCCN) composite was designed and synthesized by solvothermal method . The composite was characterized by XRD , SEM, EDS , FT-IR, BET, XPS , UV–Vis DRS , PL and EIS. The MCCN photocatalyst exhibits superior photocatalytic performance for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB), and the efficiencies are found to be 90.36% and 88.17%, respectively. The kinetic constants k of MCCN-3 against RhB and MB dyes are 0.04094 min −1 and 0.03319 min −1 , respectively, under visible light for 75 ​min irradiation. The improved degradation efficiency of MCCN attributed to the enhanced light absorption and the transport channels of electron-hole pairs by forming a heterojunction between MIL-101(Fe) and Ce/g-C 3 N 4 with a favourable band position. Moreover, the possible mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of dyes was proposed though free radical trapping experiments. This work provides an effective way for constructing novel visible-light-driven photocatalyst in the removal of organic molecules from waste water .