Boosting charge separation in graphdiyne quantum dots/hollow tubular carbon nitride heterojunction for water pollutant degradation

Qiang Bai; Kesi Xiong; Chaohui Zhang; Lina Wang; Wenhao Han; Qianqian Zhu; Fanglin Du; William W Yu; Ning Sui

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.136

Boosting charge separation in graphdiyne quantum dots/hollow tubular carbon nitride heterojunction for water pollutant degradation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Sep 15:646:802-814. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.136. Epub 2023 May 21.

Authors

Qiang Bai¹, Kesi Xiong¹, Chaohui Zhang², Lina Wang³, Wenhao Han¹, Qianqian Zhu⁴, Fanglin Du¹, William W Yu⁵, Ning Sui⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China.
² College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China.
³ College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China. Electronic address: linawang@qust.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. Electronic address: wyu6000@gmail.com.
⁶ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, China. Electronic address: suining@qust.edu.cn.

PMID: 37229998
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.136

Abstract

Non-desirable solar energy absorption and poor charge transfer efficiency are two problems that limit the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) photocatalytic techniques. Herein, a metal-free boron-doped graphdiyne quantum dot (BGDs) modified hollow tubular g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst (BGD/TCN) was synthesized to activate PMS and achieved effective space separation of carriers for degradation of bisphenol A. With 0.5 mM PMS, the degradation rate of bisphenol A (20 ppm) was 0.0634 min^-1, 3.7-fold higher than that of TCN itself. The roles of BGDs in the distribution of electrons and photocatalytic property were well identified by experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The possible degradation intermediate products of bisphenol A were monitored by mass spectrometer and demonstrated to be nontoxic using ecological structure activity relationship modeling (ECOSAR). Finally, this newly-designed material was successfully applied in actual water bodies, which further renders its promising prospect for actual water remediation.

Keywords: Carbon nitride; Catalytic degradation; Graphdiyne; Peroxymonosulfate; Water purification.