Microtubular cellulose-derived kapok fibre as a solid electron donor for boosting photocatalytic H2O2 production over C-doped g-C3N4 hybrid complexation

Nur Shamimie Nadzwin Hasnan; Mohamad Azuwa Mohamed; Nurul Atikah Nordin; Wan Nor Roslam Wan Ishak; Mohammad B Kassim

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121096

Microtubular cellulose-derived kapok fibre as a solid electron donor for boosting photocatalytic H₂O₂ production over C-doped g-C₃N₄ hybrid complexation

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Oct 1:317:121096. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121096. Epub 2023 Jun 8.

Authors

Nur Shamimie Nadzwin Hasnan¹, Mohamad Azuwa Mohamed², Nurul Atikah Nordin¹, Wan Nor Roslam Wan Ishak³, Mohammad B Kassim⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: mazuwa@ukm.edu.my.
³ Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

PMID: 37364961
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121096

Abstract

Cellulose continues to play an important and emerging role in photocatalysis, and its favourable properties, such as electron-rich hydroxyl groups, could enhance the performance of photocatalytic reactions. For the first time, this study exploited the kapok fibre with microtubular structure (t-KF) as a solid electron donor to enhance the photocatalytic activity of C-doped g-C₃N₄ (CCN) via ligand-to-metal-charge-transfer (LMCT) to improve hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production performance. As confirmed by various characterisation techniques, the hybrid complex consisting of CCN grafted on t-KF was successfully developed in the presence of succinic acid (SA) as a cross-linker via a simple hydrothermal approach. The complexation formation between CCN and t-KF results in the CCN-SA/t-KF sample displaying a higher photocatalytic activity than pristine g-C₃N₄ to produce H₂O₂ under visible light irradiation. The enhanced physicochemical and optoelectronic properties of CCN-SA/t-KF imply that the LMCT mechanism is crucial in improving photocatalytic activity. This study promotes utilising the unique t-KF material's properties to develop a low-cost and high-performance cellulose-based LMCT photocatalyst.

Keywords: Cellulose; Crosslinking; G-C(3)N(4); Hydrogen peroxide production; Ligand-to-metal-charge-transfer.