WO3 nanosheets/g-C3N4 nanosheets’ nanocomposite as an effective photocatalyst for degradation of rhodamine B

A novel WO 3 nanosheets (WO 3 NS)/g-C 3 N 4 Nanosheets’ (g-C 3 N 4 NS) nanocomposite photocatalyst was fabricated through a simple calcination process. WO 3 NS was first prepared with the aid of P123 lamellar micelles and g-C 3 N 4 NS was synthesized by two-step calcination process. The nanocomposite photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, UV–Vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. The novel nanocomposite photocatalyst demonstrated higher photocatalytic activity for rhodamine B degradation than corresponding g-C 3 N 4 NS. 20 wt% WO 3 NS/g-C 3 N 4 NS showed the highest photocatalytic performance, which was 4.70 times higher than that of pure g-C 3 N 4 NS. The results confirmed that the incorporation of WO 3 NS could definitely accelerate the transfer of photogenerated electrons and effectively promote the separation of electrons and holes, thereby improving the photocatalytic efficiency. The trapping experiments proved that the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation may be rooted in the formation of Z-scheme system.