Facile synthesis of Z-scheme BiVO4/porous graphite carbon nitride heterojunction for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalyst

Highlights: • Porous g-C₃N₄ was obtained by calcining urea and thiourea. • Porous g-C₃N₄ served as substrate for the growth of BiVO₄. • g-C₃N₄/BiVO₄ composite showed visible light activity for dye degradation. • Z-scheme charge carrier transfer pathways were proposed. In this research work, we successfully prepared the Z-scheme BiVO₄/porous graphite carbon nitride (Pg-C₃N₄) composite by hydrothermal process at 180 °C, which realized strong redox capability under visible light, which was proved by enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue solution. The k_app of 60%BiVO₄/Pg-C₃N₄ was 0.05251 min⁻¹, which was 4.6 and 7.2 times higher than that of BiVO₄ (0.00938 min⁻¹) and Pg-C₃N₄ (0.00643 min⁻¹), respectively. The separation of charge carriers was effectively promoted, which was revealed by photoluminescence (PL) spectra and transient photocurrent response. Eventually, possible mechanism was also proposed.