Facile design of surface electric field driven tourmaline/g-C3N4 layered stacked photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity for antibiotic removal

Xiangwei Tang; Rongdi Tang; Zhanpeng Zhou; Ling Li; Yaocheng Deng; Daoxin Gong; Lihua Yang; Tianwei Song; Mingxuan He

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139185

Facile design of surface electric field driven tourmaline/g-C₃N₄ layered stacked photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity for antibiotic removal

Chemosphere. 2023 Sep:336:139185. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139185. Epub 2023 Jun 9.

Authors

Xiangwei Tang¹, Rongdi Tang², Zhanpeng Zhou¹, Ling Li¹, Yaocheng Deng³, Daoxin Gong⁴, Lihua Yang¹, Tianwei Song¹, Mingxuan He¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Environment & Ecology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China.
² College of Environment & Ecology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China. Electronic address: rongditang@stu.hunau.edu.cn.
³ College of Environment & Ecology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China. Electronic address: dengyaocheng@hunau.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Environment & Ecology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China. Electronic address: gongdaoxin@hunau.edu.cn.

PMID: 37302491
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139185

Abstract

In the field of photocatalysis, Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has received a lot of attention for its superior functionality and benefits. However, it suffers from the fatal defect of low charge separation efficiency, which is well addressed by tourmaline's self-contained surface electric field. In this work, tourmaline/g-C₃N₄ (T/CN) composites were successfully synthesized. Due to its surface electric field effect, tourmaline and g-C₃N₄ are stacked on top of each other. It makes its specific surface area increase greatly and more active sites are exposed. Additionally, the rapid separation of photogenerated electron holes under the action of electric field promotes the photocatalytic reaction. T/CN exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance under visible light, with 99.9% Tetracycline (TC 50 mg L^-1) removal after 30 min. Compared to tourmaline (0.0160 min^-1) and g-C₃N₄ (0.0230 min^-1), the T/CN composite's reaction rate constant (0.1754 min^-1) was 11.0 and 7.6 times higher. A series of characterizations also determined the structural properties and catalytic performance of the T/CN composites, which were found to have a larger specific surface area, narrower band gap, and higher charge separation efficiency compared to the monomer. In addition, the toxicity of tetracycline intermediates and their degradative pathways were investigated, and the toxicity of the intermediates was found to be reduced. Given the quenching experiments and active substance determination, it was also found that h⁺ and ·O₂^- play a major role. This work provides more inspiration for photocatalytic material performance research as well as green innovation for environmental management.

Keywords: Antibiotics removal; Graphitic carbon nitride; Photocatalysis; Surface electric field; Tourmaline.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents* / chemistry
Catalysis
Quantum Dots*
Tetracycline

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
tourmaline
Tetracycline