Facile synthesis and catalytic performance of nanosheet - Nanorods g-C₃N₄-Bi₂WO₆ heterojunction catalyst and effect of silver nanoparticles loading on bare Bi₂WO₆ and g-C₃N₄-Bi₂WO₆ for N-deethylation process

Bi₂WO₆ nano-rods and g-C₃N₄-Bi₂WO₆ heterojunction and their corresponding silver loaded nanocatalysts were synthesized and characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, photoluminescence (PL), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). FE-SEM micrographs indicates that g-C₃N₄ nano-sheets are agglomerated with WO₃ particles and Bi₂WO₆ nanorods in g-C₃N₄-WO₃ and g-C₃N₄-Bi₂WO₆ catalysts respectively whereas, HR-TEM images confirmed the presence of interface between g-C₃N₄ sheets and Bi₂WO₆ nano-rods, and dispersion of less than 10 nm Ag particles over the heterojunction. A significant reduction in PL signal due to reduced electron hole recombination and consequent enhancement of catalytic activity were observed with the Ag/g-C₃N₄-Bi₂WO₆ catalyst. On bare Bi₂WO₆ nano-rods, N-deethylation was found to be the prominent degradation pathway and with 1% silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), this is fully quenched and ring closure pathway accounts for the dye degradation. In addition, performance of our catalyst was benchmarked with commercially available visible light driven photo-catalysts. The appropriate band positions for reduction and oxidation reactions, with the reduced charge recombination make this heterojunction suitable for applications like water splitting and other environmental applications.