Visible light activated N doped CQDs/g C3N4/Bi2WO6 nanocomposites with different component arrangements for the promoted degradation of hazardous vapors
Abstract To investigate whether the arrangement of componentsin multi composite photocatalysts may affect their photocatalytic properties, due to different charge transfer routes, two ternary nanocomposite photocatalysts with different component arrangements, comprising N doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) g C3N4 (CN) and Bi2WO6 (BWO) (hereafter referred to as NCQDs/CN/BWO) were developed, and the photocatalytic degradation of model hazardous vapors under visible light illumination was investigated. Type I NCQDs/CN/BWO, which was developed by the combination of NCQDs/BWO and CN, exhibited photocatalytic ability superior to that of type II NCQDs/CN/BWO, which was developed by the combination of CN/BWO and NCQDs; the superior photocatalytic ability corresponded to the dual properties of NCQDs: charge mediation and upconversion photoluminescence. Moreover, the photocatalytic ability of NCQDs/CN/BWO was greater than those of the reference catalysts; in addition, this photocatalyst exhibited outstanding photochemical stability. Additionally, the effects of CN/(BWO CN) weight ratio of the CN/BWO dual nanocomposites and the NCQDs/(BWO CN NCQDs) weight percentage of NCQDs/CN/BWO ternary nanocomposites on the pollutant removal efficiency were investigated. The plausible mechanisms over the two NCQDs/CN/BWO photocatalysts for the degradation of hazardous vapors were discussed. The component arrangement approach proposed herein afforded a technique toward the perceptive development of novel multi component heterostructures for the photocatalytic degradation of hazardous vapors.