Synergistic Effect of ZnO and g-C3N4: Photocatalytic Activity Toward Cost-Effective Decomposition of Toxic Organic Dyes

This chapter discusses various factors related to the synergistic effect of these two materials that make them promising for cost-effective decomposition of toxic dyes. Water sources are generally polluted by several factors, such as sewage from households, wastewater from industries, agricultural pollutants, and dumping of solid wastes. Photocatalysis is classified into two categories, namely, homogeneous photocatalysis and heterogeneous photocatalysis. Various dopants have been added with metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts to improve the photocatalytic efficiency as reported in the literature. The interaction between ZnO and g-C3N4 results in the formation of core–shell morphology, which in turn leads to the effective charge transfer mechanism. The addition of g-C3N4 with ZnO results in an enhanced photocatalytic system (ZnO/g-C3N4) that can degrade various types of toxic organic dye molecules with better efficiency compared with bare ZnO or bare g-C3N4 because of the synergistic effect between ZnO and g-C3N4.