Synthesis of Diatomite/g-C$lt;inf$gt;3$lt;/inf$gt;N$lt;inf$gt;4$lt;/inf$gt; Composite with Enhanced Visible-light-responsive Photocatalytic Activity

Novel visible-light-responsive diatomite/g-C 3 N 4 composite was successfully synthesized via a facile impregnation-calcination method. The sample was characterized by TG, XRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, FT-IR, XPS, UV-Vis-DRS, and PL spectra. The photocatalytic activities of samples were evaluated by degradation of RhB under visible light irradiation. Experimental results indicated that 2.32wt% diatomite/g-C 3 N 4 composite exhibits high efficiency for the degradation of RhB. The photoreaction kinetics constant value is about 1.9 times as high as that of g-C 3 N 4 under visible light irradiation. The radical trap experiments indicate that O 2 -serves as the main active species for the photodegradation of RhB over 2.32wt% diatomite/g-C 3 N 4 under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photoactivity is mainly attributed to the electrostatic interaction between g-C 3 N 4 and negatively charged diatomite, synergistic effect lead to the efficient migration of the photogenerated electrons and holes of g-C 3 N 4 .