Practical Preparation of Carbon Black/Carbon Nitride Compounds and Their Photocatalytic Performance.

Here we report a carbon-black-modified g- C3N4 nanocomposite prepared by a convenient method and its photocatalytic performance, which was compared with other carbon-material-, carbon nanotube ( CNT)-, C60-, and graphene ( GR)-modified g- C3N4 nanocomposites. X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and photoluminescence were used to characterize the prepared composite material. The results reveal that incorporating g- C3N4 with carbon materials decreases the bandgap and the electron-hole recombination rate of the prepared catalysts. No significant difference was observed in the structural and optical properties among these four series of carbon-material-modified g- C3N4 nanocomposites. Carbon-based materials cannot act as visible-light sensitizers but they can facilitate the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers. These composites obey a tentative reaction mechanism similar to rhodamine B ( RhB) photocatalytic degradation. Carbon-black-modified g- C3N4 exhibits comparable activity and stability as those of GR-modified g- C3N4 , which is better than the modification by C60 and CNTs. Compared to CNTs, GR, and C60 , carbon black is a cheap and effective carbon source with excellent photocatalytic performance for the preparation of carbon material/g- C3N4 nanocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]