Template-Free Synthesis of g-C 3 N 4 Nanoball/BiOCl Nanotube Heterojunction with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity.

There are many reports on g-C₃N₄ nanosheet and BiOCl nanosheet, but few studies on other morphologies of g-C₃N₄ and BiOCl. Herein, a g-C₃N₄ nanoball/BiOCl nanotube heterojunction prepared by a simple one-step acetonitrile solvothermal method is reported. The XRD results prove that the g-C₃N₄/BiOCl composites can be prepared in one step. SEM results revealed that the g-C₃N₄ was spherical and the BiOCl was tubular. The HRTEM results indicate that g-C₃N₄ has an amorphous structure and that the (100) crystal plane of BiOCl borders the g-C₃N₄. Spherical g-C₃N₄ has a narrow band gap (approximately 1.94 eV), and the band gap of g-C₃N₄/BiOCl after modification was also narrow. When the BiOCl accounted for 30% of the g-C₃N₄/BiOCl by mass, the quasi-primary reaction rate constant of RhB degradation was 45 times that of g-C₃N₄. This successful preparation method for optimizing g-C₃N₄ involving simple one-step template-free synthesis may be adopted for the preparation of diverse-shapes and high-performance nanomaterials in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]