Growth of uniform g-C3N4 shells on 1D TiO2 nanofibers via vapor deposition approach with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract In this work, uniform g-C3N4 shells have grown on the surface of electrospinning TiO2 nanofibers to form one dimensional core/shell structured TiO2/g-C3N4 nanofibers by a facial melamine-involved vapor deposition approach. During the heat treatment process in a simple setup, the TiO2 nanofibers served as supports to prevent the collapses and aggregations of g-C3N4 while forming heterojunctions with g-C3N4 at the interface. The as prepared heterogeneous TiO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst exhibited remarkably enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation by maxing heterojunctions at the core/shell interface. The photodegradation reaction rate constant of the obtained heterojunction is 0.064 min−1, which is 4.0 times that of pure g-C3N4 (0.016 min−1). To reach higher RhB degradation efficiency (>90%), TiO2/g-C3N4 shortened the irradiation time by 60 min compared with individual components (pure g-C3N4 or TiO2 nanofibers). The remarkably high photocatalytic performances are mainly ascribed to the synergetic effect of efficient photogenerated charge separation properties and decreased electron transfer resistance of the heterojunctions formed between g-C3N4 and TiO2. We believe the proposed simple method and setup is an attractive strategy for constructing one dimensional g–C3N4–based nano-heterojunctions with excellent photocatalytic properties.