Phosphorus and bismuth co-doped porous g-C3N4 nanosheets as an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst

Porous phosphorus and bismuth co-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets were prepared via a simple thermal polymerization process from low-price materials, which were characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, XPS, and UV-Vis technologies. Results from characterizations showed that the co-doping of phosphorus and bismuth would improve the specific surface area and photo-induced charge carrier separation ability, making it a more favorable photocatalyst than its pure g-C3N4 and single-doped g-C3N4 counterpart for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). The photocatalytic activity of P and Bi co-doped g-C3N4 sample was nearly 8.4 times higher than that of individual g-C3N4. Additionally, this composite had a delectable catalytic stability, which was a key element for its potential practical applications. According to radical capturing experiments and theoretical analysis, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was also proposed.