Fe2O3/C3N4 composite nanotubular photocatalyst with Z-scheme heterojunction

The rational design of the interfacial contact and morphology of heterojunction photocatalysts plays an important role in the migration of charges. The separation of photogenerated carriers of photocatalyst based on Z-scheme mechanism is promoted while maintaining the original redox ability. This paper reports a Fe2O3/CN composite photocatalyst with a nanotubular morphology. The CN tube has a diameter of about 300 nm and a wall thickness of 20 nm. Fe2O3 is evenly distributed on the inner wall of CN. This catalyst exhibits Z-scheme heterojunctions, and accelerating the migration of carriers between the two phases to significantly enhances photocatalytic performance. 4FCN showed excellent performance in both degradation of TC and hydrogen production reactions. The reaction rate constant was 0.0171 min-1 and the hydrogen production rate was 212.97 μmol h–1·g–1. In depth investigation of the mechanism of TC degradation identified ·O2- as the major active species. This work provides new insights into the structural design of catalysts.