Solar-reduced graphene oxide heterostructure: A sustainable Bi-functional photocatalyst producing clean hydrogen from water and enabling organic dye degradation

Shakeelur Raheman AR, Higgins M. Wilson, Rohan Mistry, Nilesh Salunke, Rupali Mane, Khursheed B. Ansari, Mohammed K. Al Mesfer, Mumtaj Shah, Mohd Danish and Sang Joon Lee

Renewable Energy, 2025, vol. 245, issue C

Abstract: This study delves green synthesis of a solar-reduced graphene oxide (SrGO) and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) heterostructure by utilizing solar energy as a crucial component of the synthesis process. SrGO/g-C3N4 heterostructure demonstrated enhanced optical absorption and strong interfacial connection between SrGO and g-C3N4 interface. Comprehensive spectroscopic and microscopic analyses provided a detail understanding of heterostructural properties, confirming its suitability for solar-driven applications. Under solar irradiation, g-C3N4 nanosheet showed photocatalytic H2 evolution of 244.01μmolh−1g−1Cat. The coupling of SrGO with different wt% decreased the energy bandgap of g-C3N4 and increased the separation of photoelectrons and hole pairs. The 1 wt%SrGO/g-C3N4 heterostructure demonstrated excellent photocatalytic H2 evolution activity 2071.3μmolh−1g−1Cat, 8.4-fold greater than pure g-C3N4. The heterostructure exhibited exceptional stability and excellent Apparent Quantum Yields (7.31 %) at 460 nm. Further, 1 wt%SrGO/g-C3N4 indicated 97.16 % photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye within 75 min with increased reactivity of 0.0436 min−1 as compared to 0.00696 min−1 for 0.5 wt% SrGO/g-C3N4 and 0.01031 min−1 for 1.5 wt% SrGO/g-C3N4, respectively. Moreover, 1 wt% SrGO/g-C3N4 shows the highest Jph (370μA/cm2 at 1V versus RHE) and photogenerated charge carrier lifetime τ = 1.210×10−8. The mechanism of photocatalytic performance of SrGO/g-C3N4 heterostructure was examined in detail.

Keywords: Clean fuel; Solar reduced graphene oxide; G-C3N4 nanosheet; Bi-functional photocatalyst; Photon absorption; Stability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:245:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125004641

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.122802

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