Synthesis of g-C₃N₄/N-doped CeO₂ composite for photocatalytic degradation of an herbicide

In photocatalysis, surface engineered CeO₂ could be vital due to oxygen vacancies arise from multiple valency, i.e. Ce³⁺ and Ce⁴⁺. This study reports photocatalytic properties of g-C₃N₄/CeO₂ composite synthesized by a facile method in the presence of l-arginine. Physicochemical properties of g-C₃N₄/CeO₂ material were analyzed through various characterization techniques such as XRD, UV-Vis, physisorption, etc., and correlated with its photocatalytic activity. Observed bandgap of the synthesized composite material was in the visible region, around 2.8 eV which is less than that of typical ceria, but higher than bandgap of exfoliated g-C₃N₄. On the further side, N doping into CeO₂ was confirmed through XPS analysis. It is estimated that synthesis method aided for the N doping, which further played key role in lowering the bandgap of g-C₃N₄/CeO₂ composite. Finally, Photocatalytic activity of g-C₃N₄/CeO₂ composite was analyzed through degradation of an herbicide i.e. diuron, and the study revealed the good performance of the catalyst.