Hydrothermal synthesis of 3D/2D heterojunctions of ZnIn2S4/oxygen doped g-C3N4 nanosheet for visible light driven photocatalysis of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation

This study focused on the fabrication of a peculiar 3D/2D ZnIn 2 S 4 /oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride (ZnIn 2 S 4 /SO-GCN) through a simple hydrothermal method . The flower-like morphology of hexagonal ZnIn 2 S 4 disperse on the SO-GCN nanosheets are evidenced by XRD , scanning and transmission electron microscopy . The as-synthesized nanocomposites were intensively applied for the visible light photocatalytic removal of aqueous phase 2,4-D. The heterojunction creation and the well-developed combined interface between ZnIn 2 S 4 and SO-GCN significantly increases its photogenerated charge separation capability. The photo-degradation mechanism disclose that the heterojunction has improved catalytic degradation activity, due to efficient transferring of photogenerated electron-holes pairs. Under visible-light irradiation, these nanocomposites showed 3–5 times higher degradation rate of 2,4-D (i.e. 0.0112/min, by 30%-ZnIn 2 S 4 /SO-GCN), as compared to solo ZnIn 2 S 4 and SO-GCN, attributed to the composite’s synergistic effect in unique 3D/2D heterojunction, that accelerates the electron-hole separation. The h + and •OH species contribute a noteworthy role in the degradation process of 2,4-D over 30%-ZnIn 2 S 4 /SO-GCN. In addition, the synthesized nanocomposites sustained their reusability performance in five cyclic run. Our research have implications of constructing 3D/2D nanocomposites which is beneficial for scalable solution of efficient photocatalysts .