Photoregenerable, Bifunctional Granules of Carbon-Doped g-C3N4 as Adsorptive Photocatalyst for the Efficient Removal of Tetracycline Antibiotic

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• 作者：Suyana Panneri ; Priyanka Ganguly ; Midhun Mohan ; Balagopal N. Nair ; Abdul Azeez Peer Mohamed ; Krishna G. Warrier ; U.S. Hareesh
• 刊名：ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 6, 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：5
• 期：2
• 页码：1610-1618
• 全文大小：604K
• ISSN：2168-0485

文摘

Environmental remediation employing semiconducting materials offer a greener solution for pollution control. Herein, we report the development of high surface area porous architecture of C₃N₄ nanosheets by a simple aqueous spray drying process. g-C₃N₄ nanosheets obtained by the thermal decomposition of urea-thiourea mixture are spray granulated to microspheres using 2 wt% poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) as binder. The post granulation thermal oxidation treatment resulted in in situ doping of carbon leading to improved photophysical properties compared to pristine g-C₃N₄. The C₃N₄ granules with surface area values of 150 m²/g rendered repetitive adsorption of tetracycline antibiotic (∼75% in 60 min) and the extended absorption in the visible region facilitated complete photocatalytic degradation upon sunlight irradiation (>95% in 90 min). The delocalized π bonds generated after carbon doping and the macro-meso porous architecture created by the granulation process aided high adsorption capacity (70 mg/g). The photoregenerable, bifunctional materials herein obtained can thus be employed for the adsorption and subsequent degradation of harmful organic pollutants without any secondary remediation processes.