Silver Nanoparticle Decorated g-C3N4/MIL-53(Fe) Nanocomposite: A Pre-Eminent Visiblelight- Driven Photocatalyst Towards Multimodal Photocatalytic Applications

Abstract

Designing heterostructure photocatalyst material having high porosity with enhanced specific surface area and optoelectrical properties is one of the significant approaches towards the decontamination of hazardous organic contaminants and water-splitting reactions under visible light irradiation. In this study, silver nanoparticle decorated g-C3N4 (ACN)/MIL-53(Fe) photocatalyst was developed having improved surface area by a facile solvothermal approach. The as-synthesized pure and composite materials are characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, XPS, and PL analysis. It is observed that 15% of ACN-20 modified MIL-53 (MACN-15) exhibit improved charge separation between photoinduced electron and hole pairs which eventually shows the highest photocatalytic applications in RhB degradation, photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction, and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting. The optimal photocatalyst (MACN-15) shows excellent degradation of RhB and Cr(VI) reduction efficiency within 60 minutes of visible light irradiation. MACN-15 nanocomposite also exhibits a superior rate of H2 evolution with a specific conversion efficiency of 14.8%. A possible Z- Scheme mechanism is also predicted for MACN-15 nanocomposite for this multimodal photocatalytic applications.