A facile one pot synthetic approach for C3N4–ZnS composite interfaces as heterojunctions for sunlight-induced multifunctional photocatalytic applications

P. Suyana; Sneha K. R.; Balagopal N. Nair; Venugopal Karunakaran; A. Peer Mohamed; K. G. K. Warrier; U. S. Hareesh

doi:10.1039/C5RA27427C

A facile one pot synthetic approach for C₃N₄–ZnS composite interfaces as heterojunctions for sunlight-induced multifunctional photocatalytic applications†

P. Suyana,^ab Sneha K. R.,^a Balagopal N. Nair,^cd Venugopal Karunakaran,^be A. Peer Mohamed,^a K. G. K. Warrier^a and U. S. Hareesh

*^ab

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* Corresponding authors

^a Material Science and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram-695019, India
E-mail: hareesh@niist.res.in
Fax: +91 471 2491712
Tel: +91 471 2535504

^b Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India

^c R&D Center, Noritake Co. Limited, Aichi 470-0293, Japan

^d Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, GPO Box UI987, Perth, WA6845, Australia

^e Chemical Science and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram-695019, India

Abstract

Herein, we report a facile one pot synthetic protocol for the creation of C₃N₄–ZnS composite interfaces by the co-pyrolysis of a precursor mix containing zinc nitrate, melamine, and thiourea at 550 °C in air. The organic–inorganic semiconductor heterojunctions thus formed displayed increased absorbance in the longer wavelength region and facilitated broad absorption of visible light compared to pure ZnS, C₃N₄ and conventionally synthesized hybrid samples. The decreased emission intensity, increased photocurrent generation and decreased fluorescence lifetime revealed reduced exciton recombinations in the co-pyrolysed sample containing C₃N₄–ZnS heterostructures. The samples displayed sunlight driven photocatalytic reduction of nitrophenol as well as hydrogen generation (4 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹) by water splitting.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA27427C
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 22 Dec 2015
Accepted: 27 Jan 2016
First published: 01 Feb 2016
This article is Open Access

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RSC Adv., 2016,6, 17800-17809

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A facile one pot synthetic approach for C₃N₄–ZnS composite interfaces as heterojunctions for sunlight-induced multifunctional photocatalytic applications

P. Suyana, S. K. R., B. N. Nair, V. Karunakaran, A. P. Mohamed, K. G. K. Warrier and U. S. Hareesh, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 17800 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA27427C

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