Synthesis and Characterization of a g-C₃N₄ Coupled Hybrid Nanocomposite for the Photocatalytic Effects

Photodegradation of organic pollutants using nanoparticles with suitable band gap is one of the most studied technologies in last few decades. About 8 nm antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanoparticles, as the photocatalyst for organic degradation, is prepared by the calcination of the stoichiometric mixture of precursor hydroxides of Sn⁴⁺ and Sn³⁺. ATO was combined with thermally synthesized graphitic carbon nitride(g-C₃N₄ or g-CN) and the resulting Z-scheme g-CN/ATO nanocomposite was utilized for the decomposition of salicylic acid (SA) in aqueous solution. All the samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the progress of the photocatalytic degradation reaction was measured by using UV-Visible spectroscopy. The rate constant measurements showed that the rate of degradation of SA is enhanced with hybrid nanocomposite.