Accelerated electron and mass transfer through constructing H2WO4/Ti3C2/g-C3N4 Z-scheme photocatalyst for environmental remediation

Qiang Li; Erpeng Wang; Hao Zhou; Yangjie Fu; Hao Deng; Yazhuo Zheng; Biao Xue; Hao Du; Guoxiang Yang; Qi Wang; Zhimei Sun; Jian Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140053

Accelerated electron and mass transfer through constructing H₂WO₄/Ti₃C₂/g-C₃N₄ Z-scheme photocatalyst for environmental remediation

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:341:140053. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140053. Epub 2023 Sep 8.

Authors

Qiang Li¹, Erpeng Wang², Hao Zhou¹, Yangjie Fu³, Hao Deng¹, Yazhuo Zheng², Biao Xue¹, Hao Du¹, Guoxiang Yang¹, Qi Wang⁴, Zhimei Sun⁵, Jian Zhou⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Green Printing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁴ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China; Instrumental Analysis Center of Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China. Electronic address: wangqi8327@zjgsu.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China. Electronic address: zmsun@buaa.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China. Electronic address: jzhou@buaa.edu.cn.

PMID: 37690558
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140053

Abstract

The catalytic efficiency of photocatalysts highly depends on electron transport and mass transfer. Herein, we designed and prepared an effective H₂WO₄/Ti₃C₂/g-C₃N₄ (HTC) Z-scheme heterojunction through interfacial engineering strategy. The results manifested that 97.4% of Cr(VI) (80 μM, 50 mL) could be removed by HTC heterojunction within 10 min under visible light irradiation. The reduction rate constant of Cr(VI) for H₂WO₄/g-C₃N₄ (HC) heterojunction increased by a factor of 21 after introducing the conductive Ti₃C₂. Moreover, 96% of tetracycline (TC, 10 mg L^-1, 50 mL) could be degraded by HTC heterojunction within 30 min. The electronic conductivity and ionic diffusion coefficient of HC heterojunction increased by a factor of 64 and 1064 after adding Ti₃C₂, respectively. This result indicated that the introduction of highly conductive Ti₃C₂ significantly improved the electron and mass transfer of the heterojunction. Meanwhile, the HCT heterojunction displayed favorable photocurrent, and keep excellent photostability during the long-term test. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrated that the internal electric field (IEF) from g-C₃N₄ to H₂WO₄ in HCT heterojunction promotes the combination of the photoinduced electrons in the H₂WO₄ conduction band (CB) with photoinduced holes in the g-C₃N₄ valence band (VB), thus accelerating the charge transfer in the HCT Z-scheme heterojunction. The antibacterial efficiency of HTC heterojunction against E. coli and S. aureus could reach up to 98.4% and 99.7%, respectively. The degradation intermediates and the potential degradation mechanism of TC were analyzed and proposed based on the results of HPLC-MS analysis. Moreover, the toxicity of TC and degradation intermediates were estimated by Toxicity Estimation Software (T.E.S.T.) based on quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR). This work provided a valuable guideline for designing the effective MXene-based Z-scheme heterojunction for environmental remediation.

Keywords: Heterojunction; MXene; Multifunction; Z-Scheme photocatalyst.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Electrons*
Environmental Restoration and Remediation*
Escherichia coli
Staphylococcus aureus
Titanium

Substances

MXene
chromium hexavalent ion
Titanium
Anti-Bacterial Agents