A facile one-pot preparation of Bi₂O₂CO₃/g-C₃N₄ composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Bi₂O₂CO₃ modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) nanosheets were prepared by a simple one-pot synthetic strategy. In the presence of ammonium nitrate, different mass ratios of bismuth nitrate/melamine were used to fabricate these catalysts, which were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂-physisorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis analysis, and photoluminescence (PL). The catalytic properties of composites were evaluated by photodegrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible light irradiation. Among these catalysts, Bi₂O₂CO₃(1.5)/g-C₃N₄ showed the highest catalytic activity, which was more than 16 times greater than the pristine g-C₃N₄ material. The improved photocatalytic properties of Bi₂O₂CO₃/g-C₃N₄ may be due to the formation of a heterojunction between Bi₂O₂CO₃ and g-C₃N₄, leading to the effective separation of photo-induced carriers and the enhanced absorption of visible light. Furthermore, the Bi₂O₂CO₃/g-C₃N₄ composites had considerable catalytic stability, which was a key element for their potential applications.