Microtubular carbonized cotton fiber modified g-C3N4 for the enhancement of visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

The combination of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and carbonized material is a promising strategy to improve g-C3N4's visible light absorption and charge separation efficiency. Herein, a carbonized cotton fiber (CCF) modified pure g-C3N4 (PCN/CCF) composite photocatalyst is prepared by a one-step calcination method for visible-light-driven photocatalytic. Due to CCF excellent electronic transmission and strong absorption of visible light, the green-cheap carbonized cotton fiber in the composite photocatalyst (PCN/CCF) can effectively enhance charge separation efficiency and enhances the visible light absorption of PCN. And the degradation efficiency of PCN/CCF-6 to methyl orange can reach 90% in 1 h under visible light irradiation. The photodegradation constant of PCN/CCF-6 is 0.03105 min(-1), which is 8 times that of bulk carbon nitride (BCN) and twice that of the pure gC(3)N(4) (PCN). This catalyst also shows excellent degradation performance against other pollutants (Rh B, TC). PCN/CCF provide an effective way for carbon-based materials to assist high-efficiency photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

Automated summary

The composite photocatalyst PCN/CCF, prepared by modifying pure g-C3N4 with carbonized cotton fiber, shows excellent photocatalytic performance with significantly enhanced charge separation efficiency and visible light absorption, achieving a degradation efficiency of 90% for methyl orange under visible light irradiation.