Novel ternary g-C 3 N 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /MnWO 4 nanocomposites: Synthesis, characterization, and visible-light photocatalytic performance for environmental purposes

The g-C3N4/Fe3O4/MnWO4 nanocomposites were prepared by a refluxing-calcination procedure. Visible-light-induced photocatalytic experiments showed that the g-C3N4/Fe3O4/MnWO4 (10%) nanocomposite has excellent ability to degrade a range of contaminants including rhodamine B, methylene blue, methyl orange, and fuchsine, which is about 7, 10, 25, and 31 times of the g-C3N4 photocatalyst, respectively. Reactive species trapping experiments revealed that superoxide anion radicals play major role in the photodegradation reaction of rhodamine B (RhB). After the treatment process, the utilized photocatalyst was magnetically recovered and reused with negligible loss in the photocatalytic activity, which is vital in the photocatalytic processes. Finally, a mechanism was proposed for the enhanced interfacial carrier separation and transfer and the improved photocatalytic performance.