Facile constructing plasmonic Z-scheme Au NPs/g-C₃N₄/BiOBr for enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

A novel ternary Au NPs/g-C₃N₄/BiOBr Z-scheme heterojunction composite was fabricated through hydrothermal and in-situ reduction method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy and photoluminescence emission spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of phenol under visible-light irradiation. It was found that Au NPs/g-C₃N₄/BiOBr showed enhanced photocatalytic activity, which is 3-fold higher than g-C₃N₄ and 2.5-fold higher than BiOBr. This could be attributed to the effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, narrowed band gap (2.10 eV) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR).