Graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots and nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots co-decorated with BiVO4 microspheres: A ternary heterostructure photocatalyst for water purification

In this study, a ternary heterostructure photocatalyst was synthesized by co-anchoring the graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots (CNQDs) and nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (NCDs) on the surface of BiVO4 microspheres. The as-synthesized BiVO4/CNQDs/NCDs ternary heterostructure exhibits the excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB, dye) and tetracycline (TC, antibiotic) under visible-light illumination. Eventually, it is found that the BiVO4/CNQDs/NCDs shows the much better photoreactivity both for RhB and TC degradation in comparison with that of pure BiVO4, BiVO4/CNQDs, and BiVO4/NCDs samples, respectively. The improvement of photocatalytic performance is due to the efficient separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers, resulting in formation of a ternary heterostructure system. This work will be useful for the construction of other ternary heterostructure photocatalysts application in waste water purification.