Ternary Hybrid Aerogels of g‐C 3 N 4 /α‐Fe 2 O 3 on a 3D Graphene Network: An Efficient and Recyclable Z‐Scheme Photocatalyst

A Z‐scheme graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 )/α‐Fe 2 O 3 has been incorporated into a three‐dimensional porous graphene aerogel. Graphene aerogels are a promising framework in their use for practical photocatalysis by abundant reaction sites, efficient mass transport of reactants and recyclability through their free‐standing framework. At the same time, Z‐scheme charge transfer among g‐C 3 N 4 , α‐Fe 2 O 3 , and conductive graphene inhibits the rapid recombination of the photoinduced electrons and holes. Ternary g‐C 3 N4/α‐Fe 2 O 3 /graphene aerogels (CNFGA) showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity which demonstrated 4.75 times greater methylene blue degradation and 17.5 times higher photocurrent density than those of exfoliated g‐C 3 N 4 under visible light. In addition, CNFGA exhibited a robust photostability with a simple recovery method while showing only a ca. 2 % decrease in photocatalytic performance after five cycles. These results suggest that this ternary Z‐scheme photocatalyst based on a graphene aerogel has potential use in practical photocatalysis for various environmental applications.