Visible Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance of N-Doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) Nanocomposites

N-doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) composites have been successfully prepared via a facile and cost-effective sol-gel method. The nanocomposites were systematically characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, HRTEM, FT-IR, XPS, and UV-vis DRS. The results indicated that compared with the pure N-doped ZnO, the absorption edge of binary N-doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) shifted to a lower energy with increasing the visible-light absorption and improving the charge separation efficiency, which would enhance its photocatalytic activity. Compared with the pure g-C(3)N(4), ZnO, N-doped ZnO and the composite ZnO/g-C(3)N(4), the as-prepared N-doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) exhibits a greatly enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and phenol under visible-light irradiation. Meanwhile, N-doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) possesses a high stability. Finally, a proposed mechanism for N-doped ZnO/g-C(3)N(4) is also discussed. The improved photocatalysis can be attributed to the synergistic effect between N-doped ZnO and g-C(3)N(4), including the energy band structure and enhanced charge separation efficiency.