2D/2D Z-scheme Bi2WO6/Porous-g-C3N4 with synergy of adsorption and visible-light-driven photodegradation

Abstract A 2D/2D Z-scheme visible-light-driven Bi2WO6/Porous-g-C3N4 with enhanced adsorption and visible-light-driven photodegradation was swimmingly attained by an ultrasonication-assisted chemisorption method. XRD, FT-IR, XPS, SEM, TEM, EDS, element mapping, BET, Zeta potential, UV–vis DRS and PL were employed to investigate its physicochemical properties. The adsorptive and photocatalytic activities were determined by RhB decoloration. The results show that Bi2WO6/Porous-g-C3N4-15 exhibits the highest adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity, therefore it is 2.55 and 3.31 times of that of Bi2WO6, and 2.58 and 1.46 times of that of Porous-g-C3N4. The adsorption enhancement was proved by BET and Zeta potential characterizations. The adsorption enhancement can not only help to remove RhB directly but also accelerate the initial step of photodegradation, which is of great importance in dyes removal. A Z-scheme mechanism was proposed and particularly investigated through theoretical analysis and active species trapping experiments comparison on Bi2WO6 and Bi2WO6/Porous-g-C3N4.