Kingsley Igenepo John, Touma B. Issa, Goen Ho, Aleksandar N. Nikoloski, Dan Li
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study systematically studied the effects of Pr, Fe, and Na as representative rare earth, transition, and alkali metal dopants, respectively, on the photocatalytic activity of exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). The doped exfoliated g-C3N4 samples were prepared by integrating precursor ion intercalation into the pre-formed g-C3N4 with thermal treatment. The as-prepared catalysts were examined for crystal, textural, chemical, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties to explore the correlation between dopants and photocatalytic activity of the resulting composites. The detailed analyses revealed that the Pr-doped g-C3N4 exhibited superior photocatalytic activity in degrading methylene blue under visible light, achieving a ∼96% removal in 40 min. This was not only better than the activity of g-C3N4, but also much higher than that of Na-doped g-C3N4 or Fe-doped g-C3N4. The kinetic rate constant using Pr-doped g-C3N4 was 3.2, 5.1, and 2.0 times greater than that of the g-C3N4, Fe-doped g-C3N4, and Na-doped g-C3N4, respectively. The enhanced performance was attributed to its inherent characteristics after optimal tuning, including good surface area, improved porosity, enhanced visible light absorption, suitable electronic band structure, increased charge carrier density, promoted charge separation, and reduced charge transfer resistance. In addition, the optimized Pr(0.4)g-C3N4 was used to study the photocatalytic removal of methylene blue in detail under conditions with different initial methylene blue concentrations, types of dyes, catalyst dosages, initial solution pH, counter ions, and water matrices. Our results demonstrated the high photocatalytic activity of Pr(0.4)g-C3N4 under varying conditions, including in real wastewater media, which were collected from our local municipal wastewater treatment plant. The observed good reusability and stability after five cycles of photocatalytic degradation test further suggested a promising potential of Pr(0.4)g-C3N4 for practical application in wastewater treatment.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering presents the latest developments in chemical science and engineering, emphasizing emerging and multidisciplinary fields and international trends in research and development. The journal promotes communication and exchange between scientists all over the world. The contents include original reviews, research papers and short communications. Coverage includes catalysis and reaction engineering, clean energy, functional material, nanotechnology and nanoscience, biomaterials and biotechnology, particle technology and multiphase processing, separation science and technology, sustainable technologies and green processing.