The cooperation of photothermal conversion, photocatalysis and sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation process on few-layered graphite modified graphitic carbon nitride

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2021-08, Vol.417, p.127993, Article 127993
• Main Authors: Qiu, Pengxiang, Xue, Ningxuan, Cheng, Ziwen, Kai, Xuan, Zeng, Yujing, Xu, Mingyi, Zhang, Shuai, Xu, Chenmin, Liu, Fengling, Guo, Zhaobing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BPA; Peroxymonosulfate; Photocatalysis; Photothermal effect; Synergistic effect
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.127993

[Display omitted] •The few-layered graphite/g-C3N4 (GrCN) shows full-spectrum absorbance (~82.8%).•Long-wave light is converted to heat on GrCN to accelerate the reactions.•GrCN shows high reusability in the presence of SO4− under illumination.•Efficient bisphenol A degradation is achieved in the GrCN/PMS/light system. Sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation process is a promising technology to degrade organic pollutants for water remediation. Photo-activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) has received increasing attention. From the aspect of solar energy, the utilization of near-infrared (NIR) light which accounts for about 50% of the solar energy in PMS activation is still challenging. Herein, we designed and synthesized few-layered graphite modified graphitic carbon nitride (GrCN) for whole-spectrum photo-activation of PMS. During the reaction, NIR light was converted to heat on few-layered graphite through photothermal effect to accelerate the chemical reactions via raising the system temperature. In addition to the photothermal effect, few-layered graphite also acted as cocatalyst to alter the band structure and promote the charge separation. Therefore, GrCN exhibited excellent activity in the degradation of bisphenol A with the addition of PMS under illumination. In addition, GrCN presented high reusability in the presence of sulfate radicals under illumination.