Photoreactive Carbon and Nitrogen-Codoped ZnWO4 Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Reactivity
In order to improve ZnWO4 photocatalytic activity under visible light, the C, N-codoped ZnWO4 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by choosing C3N4 generated from tripolycyanamide pyrolysis as the source of Carbon and Nitrogen and the influence of C3N4 concentration on structural, optical and morphological properties of C, N-codoped ZnWO4 using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photocatalytic decoloration of rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous solution under visible light. It was found that the presence of carbon and nitrogen could not improve the crystallization of ZnWO4 species but could enhance their photoabsorption property in the visible region. The results also showed that the photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared ZnWO4 is higher than that of pure ZnWO4 with the optimum effect occurring at RC3N4 = 9 % (the weight ratio of tripolycyanamide to ZnWO4)