Synthesis of Magnetically Separable and Recyclable g-C3N4–Fe3O4 Hybrid Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance under Visible-Light Irradiation

Herein we demonstrate a facile, reproducible, and template-free strategy to prepare g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites by an in situ growth mechanism. The results indicate that monodisperse Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with diameters as small as 8 nm are uniformly deposited on g-C 3 N 4 sheets, and as a result, aggregation of the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles is effectively prevented. The as-prepared g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation. Interestingly, the g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites showed good recyclability without loss of apparent photocatalytic activity even after six cycles, and more importantly, g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 could be recovered magnetically. The high performance of the g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 photocatalysts is due to a synergistic effect including the large surface-exposure area, high visible-light-absorption efficiency, and enhanced charge-separation properties. In addition, the superparamagnetic behavior of the as-prepared g-C 3 N 4 –Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites also makes them promising candidates for applications in the fields of lithium storage capacity and bionanotechnology.