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Facile synthesis of Zn(II)-doped g-C3N4 and their enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

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Abstract

Zn(II)-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with high photodegradation activity was prepared by one facile step. The morphology and structure of the prepared Zn(II)-doped g-C3N4 were investigated, and the results showed that Zn(II) could self-disperse during the pyrolysis process and Zn–N bond was formed between g-C3N4 and Zn. The dope of Zn(II) influenced the structure of g-C3N4. The performance of photocatalytic activity of Zn(II)-doped g-C3N4 series indicated that the doped g-C3N4 with a small quantity of Zn (0.10 wt%) exhibits the best photocatalytic performance. The photodegradation activity for methyl orange was 2 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4. However, the photocatalytic activity decreased with the further increased content of Zn, which may be attributed to the structure change of g-C3N4 and the interaction of Zn–N bond between Zn and g-C3N4. Moreover, Zn(II)-doped g-C3N4 showed good recycling photocatalytic stability.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51574071).

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  1. College of Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110004, China

    Zhao-Tian Wang, Jun-Li Xu, Hui Zhou & Xia Zhang

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  1. Zhao-Tian Wang
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Correspondence to Jun-Li Xu.

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Wang, ZT., Xu, JL., Zhou, H. et al. Facile synthesis of Zn(II)-doped g-C3N4 and their enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. Rare Met. 38, 459–467 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-019-01222-5

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