Abstract
This study investigated a ternary CdS/TiO(2)/g-C(3)N(4) heterojunction for degrading synthetic dyes and hydrogen production from aqueous media through visible light-initiated photocatalytic reactions. CdS, TiO(2), and g-C(3)N(4) were combined in different mass ratios through a simple hydrothermal method to create CdS/TiO(2)/g-C(3)N(4) composite photocatalysts. The prepared heterojunction catalysts were investigated by using FTIR, XRD, EDX, SEM, and UV-visible spectroscopy analysis for their crystal structures, functional groups, elemental composition, microtopography, and optical properties. The rhodamine B dye was then degraded by using fully characterized photocatalysts. The maximum dye degradation efficiency of 99.4% was noted in these experiments. The evolution rate of hydrogen from the aqueous solution with the CdS/TiO(2)/g-C(3)N(4) photocatalyst remained 2910 μmol·h(-1)·g(-1), which is considerably higher than those of g-C(3)N(4), CdS, CdS/g-C(3)N(4), and g-C(3)N(4)/TiO(2)-catalyzed reactions. This study also proposes a photocatalytic activity mechanism for the tested ternary CdS/TiO(2)/g-C(3)N(4) heterojunctions.