WSe2/g-C3N4 for an In Situ Photocatalytic Fenton-like System in Phenol Degradation

Li Tan; Yiming Chen; Didi Li; Shaobin Wang; Zhimin Ao

doi:10.3390/nano12183089

WSe₂/g-C₃N₄ for an In Situ Photocatalytic Fenton-like System in Phenol Degradation

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Sep 6;12(18):3089. doi: 10.3390/nano12183089.

Authors

Li Tan^{1

2}, Yiming Chen^{1

2}, Didi Li^{1

2}, Shaobin Wang³, Zhimin Ao^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangzhou Key Laboratory Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
⁴ Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China.

Abstract

An in situ photo-Fenton system can continuously generate H₂O₂ by photocatalysis, activating H₂O₂ in situ to form strong oxidizing ·OH radicals and degrading organic pollutants. A WSe₂/g-C₃N₄ composite catalyst with WSe₂ as a co-catalyst was successfully synthesized in this work and used for in situ photo-Fenton oxidation. The WSe₂/g-C₃N₄ composite with 7% loading of WSe₂ (CNW2) has H₂O₂ production of 35.04 μmol/L, which is fourteen times higher than pure g-C₃N₄. The degradation efficiency of CNW2 for phenol reached 67%. By constructing an in situ Fenton-system, the phenol degradation rate could be further enhanced to 90%. WSe₂ can enhance the catalytic activity of CNW2 by increasing electron mobility and inhibiting the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the addition of Fe²⁺ activates the generated H₂O₂, thus increasing the amount of strong oxidative ·OH radicals for the degradation of phenol. Overall, CNW2 is a promising novel material with a high H₂O₂ yield and can directly degrade organic pollutants using an in situ photo-Fenton reaction.

Keywords: WSe2/g-C3N4; in situ photo-Fenton; phenol degradation; visible light.

Abstract

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