Composites of WO Nanowires with g-CN/RGO Nanosheets for Broadband Light-Driven Photocatalytic Wastewater Purification.

Developing a photocatalyst that can effectively utilize the full solar spectrum remains a high-priority objective in the ongoing pursuit of efficient light-to-chemical energy conversion. Herein, the ternary nanocomposite g-CN/RGO/WO (CN/RGO/WO) was constructed and characterized by a variety of techniques. Remarkably, under the excitation of photon energies ranging from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) region, the photocatalytic performance of the CN/RGO/WO nanocomposite exhibited a significant enhancement compared with single component g-CN or WO nanosheets for the degradation of methyl orange (MO). The MO photodegradation rate of the optimal CN/1.0 wt% RGO/45.0 wt% WO catalyst reached 0.816 and 0.027 min under UV and visible light excitation, respectively. Even under low-energy NIR light, which is not sufficient to excite g-CN, the MO degradation rate can still reach 0.0367 h, exhibiting a significant enhancement than pure WO. The outstanding MO removal rate and stability were demonstrated by CN/RGO/WO nanocomposites, which arise from the synergistic effect of localized surface plasmon resonance effect induced by WO under vis-NIR excitation and the Z-scheme nanoheterojunction of WO and g-CN. In this work, we have exploited the great potential of integrating nonmetallic plasmonic nanomaterials and good conductor RGO to construct high-performance g-CN-based full-solar spectral broadband photocatalysts.