Sulfur-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets for photocatalysis: Z-scheme water splitting and decreased biofouling

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 May 1:567:202-212. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.02.017. Epub 2020 Feb 6.

Abstract

In this study, an S-doped g-C3N4 nanosheet was prepared as a photocatalyst for effective oxygen evolution reaction. Sulfur plays a crucial role in S-doped g-C3N4 not only in increasing the charge density but also in reducing the energy band gap of S-doped g-C3N4 via substitution of nitrogen sites. S-doped g-C3N4 can serve as an oxygen-evolved photocatalyst, when combined with Ru/SrTiO3:Rh in the presence of [Co(bpy)3]3+/2+ as an electron mediator, enables photocatalytic overall water splitting under visible light irradiation with hydrogen and oxygen production rates of 24.6 and 14.5 μmol-h-1, respectively. Moreover, the photocatalytic overall water splitting to produce H2 and O2 using this Z-scheme system could use for five runs to at least 94.5 h under visible light irradiation. On the other hand, S-doped g-C3N4 can reduce biofouling by bacteria such as Escherichia coli by more than 70%, by simply incubating the S-doped g-C3N4 sample with bacterial solution under light irradiation. Our results suggest that S-doped g-C3N4 is a potentially effective, green, and promising material for a variety of photocatalytic applications.

Keywords: Photocatalysis; Ru/SrTiO(3):Rh; S-doped g-C(3)N(4); Water splitting; Z-scheme; [Co(bpy)(3)](3+/2+).

MeSH terms

  • Biofouling / prevention & control*
  • Catalysis
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects*
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Graphite / chemistry
  • Graphite / pharmacology*
  • Hydrogen / chemistry
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nitrogen Compounds / chemistry
  • Nitrogen Compounds / pharmacology*
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Particle Size
  • Photochemical Processes
  • Surface Properties
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Nitrogen Compounds
  • graphitic carbon nitride
  • Water
  • Graphite
  • Hydrogen
  • Oxygen