Synergic contribution of intercalation and electronic modification of g-C3N4 for an efficient visible light-driven catalyst for tetracycline degradation

• Published in: Journal of environmental chemical engineering 2020-10, Vol.8 (5), p.104445, Article 104445
• Main Authors: Tuna, Özlem, Simsek, Esra Bilgin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon nitride; Intercalation; Lanthanum; Photocatalysis; Tetracycline
• ISSN: 2213-3437; 2213-3437
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2020.104445

[Display omitted] •Acid-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride enhanced photocatalytic activity.•The surface area increased, precursor was pretreated with HCl and HNO3.•Lanthanum doping significantly improved tetracycline degradation. Herein, the efficiency of the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) in photocatalytic degradation process has been improved with the assistance of two strategies, which were attributed to acid-assisted intercalation followed by lanthanum doping. The study highlighted the preparation of an outstanding g-C3N4 structure with high specific surface area, decreased band gap and high C/N content. The enhancement was primarily investigated by intercalation of g-C3N4 substrate. The acid-assisted intercalation route enhanced specific surface area from 46.8 to 124.1 m2/g, resulting enhanced adsorptive and photocatalytic removal. Then, the intercalated g-C3N4 nanosheets were doped with lanthanum that exhibited extended sun-light absorption and decreased the recombination rate of the photo-excited species. XPS analysis revealed the higher C/N atoms ratio into g-C3N4 structure, boosting the charge separation efficiency. The synergic effect of textural and electronic modifications resulted an excellent photocatalytic performance for antibiotic (tetracycline) degradation. In case of La/CN (20 %), the rate constant (k = 0.0201 min−1) was found as 5.58 times higher than that of pristine g-C3N4 (k = 0.0036 min−1). This study suggested a new facile route for photocatalytic utilization of g-C3N4.