A CN/MO heterojunction with high stability for efficient environmental pollution removal

Photocatalytic is a promising technology for pollutants treatment, however, the practical application is still hindered by the lack of efficient photocatalysts. Herein, a novel Z-scheme g-C3N4/MoO3 (CN/MO) heterojunction photocatalyst was designed via in-situ calcination method for efficient degrading methylene blue (MB). The introduction of CN can greatly improve the light absorption capacity and accelerate the migration and separation efficiency of photoinduced e--h+ pairs, showing a significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity. Upon visible light irradiation, the optimal CN/MO composites exhibited superior MB removal efficiency (95 % within 25 min), which is 2.0 times and 3.3 times greater than those of pure CN and MO. In addition, the CN/MO composites showed excellent recycling stability. The radical experiments unveiled that the •OH, O2˙− and h+ play major roles in MB removal, then a Z-scheme degradation mechanism was proposed. This work provided new insights into the design of more efficient photocatalysts for environmental degradation applications.