High-efficiency removal of rhodamine B dye in water using g-C3N4 and TiO2 co-hybridized 3D graphene aerogel composites

• Published in: Separation and purification technology 2018-04, Vol.194, p.96-103
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jing-Jie, Fang, Su-Su, Mei, Jin-Ya, Zheng, Guang-Ping, Zheng, Xiu-Cheng, Guan, Xin-Xin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; g-C3N4-TiO2-graphene aerogel; Photocatalysis; Rhodamine B; Visible light
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2017.11.035

[Display omitted] •g-C3N4-TiO2-GA composites with a porous 3D architecture are firstly assembled.•5 mg of the composites could adsorb 96.5% of RhB solution (25 mL, 20 mg L−1) within 1 h.•And the total removal is as high as 98.4% under visible light irradiation. The graphitic carbon nitride-titanium dioxide-graphene aerogel (g-C3N4-TiO2-GA) composites were facilely assembled by a hydrothermal approach combined with freeze drying. The adsorptivity for rhodamine B (RhB, 20.0 mg L−1, 25 mL) within 1 h over 5.0 mg of the composites was as high as 96.5% in dark and could be up to 98.4% under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the resulting composites also displayed satisfactory cyclic stability and the removal efficiency could be 75.6% even after four cycles of removal. In addition, a photocatalytic mechanism was proposed for the composite. The result demonstrated that the g-C3N4-TiO2-GA composites could be effectively used for the elimination of organic dyes under visible light irradiation because of their unique 3D hierarchical porous structure and the synergistic effect among the components.