RuO2 nanoparticles-accommodated graphitic carbon nitride for significant enhancement in photocatalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene

It is greatly desired to construct bifunctional photocatalysts to achieve extremely effective photocatalytic ability. Herein, RuO2 nanoparticles (10 nm), accommodated in porous g-C3N4 to construct mesoporous RuO2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions, were prepared utilizing a modified sol-gel process in the existence of soft surfactant. The synthesized RuO2/g-C3N4 heterostructures were employed as photocatalysts in the mineralization of trichloroethylene (TCE) in an aqueous solution through visible light. The synthesized RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites exhibited superior photocatalytic performance with 100% degradation of TCE within 150 min. The photodegradation rate of TCE of RuO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was remarkably promoted, compared with g-C3N4 and RuO2. The rate constant of 3%RuO2/g-C3N4 was determined to be 0.0127 min−1, which was 4.88 and 6.68 times higher than RuO2 (0.0026 min−1) and g-C3N4 (0.0019 min−1). This magnificent photocatalytic ability of RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites can be interpreted to highly crystalline RuO2 NPs with small size, enhanced electron and mass transfer, visible light harvest and heterojunction structure with a synergistic effect. Furthermore, the synthesized photocatalyst could be recycled for five cycles with insignificant remarkable diminish in its photocatalytic ability. Fortunately, the photocatalytic ability of RuO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for TCE mineralization exhibited varied advances by utilizing visible light at room temperature without the employ of any oxidant.