Improved electro- and photo-catalytic performance of simplistically developed g-C₃N₄/rGO/TiO₂ nanocomposite

Herein, we demonstrated the synthesis and analysis of the ternary heterojunction of g-C₃N₄, rGO, and TiO₂. The product exhibits a remarkable improvement in OER performance and visible-light dye degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The nano/heterojunction nanocomposites are subjected to analysis of their morphological, optical, charge transport, and photocatalytic properties through the use of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and Photoluminescence. The investigation of dye degradation involves the examination of UV–visible absorption and related reaction mechanisms. The present study conducted a comparative analysis of the efficacy of TiO₂, g-C₃N₄, and rGO, as well as their binary and ternary composites, in the OER and degradation of dyes. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized ternary composite of g-C₃N₄/rGO/TiO₂ is superior under visible light irradiation due to its efficient charge separation and transfer compared to that of the individual materials and binary composites of g-C₃N₄/rGO/TiO₂. The dye degradation of up to 9.7 %, 39.6 % 57.8 %, 62.9 %, and 80.2 % was observed with 2 h of activity of TiO₂, g-C₃N₄, g-C₃N₄/TiO₂, g-C₃N₄/rGO, and g-C₃N₄/rGO/TiO₂ respectively In addition, scavenging experiments were conducted to identify the reactive species, upon which a reaction mechanism is postulated.