Bibonding Constructing Coordinatively Unsaturated Zni+(0 < i < 2) Sites for Enhanced Photo-Fenton Activity

The coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUMSs) have attracted widespread attention for enhancing catalytic activity. This study reports a controllable bibonding method to construct the coordinatively unsaturated Zni+ (0 < i < 2) active sites by forming N(g-C3N4)-Zn-N-(imidazole) under mild experimental conditions. The catalysts with Zni+ are used for the photo-Fenton reaction to degrade methylene blue (MB) without any oxidant. The degradation efficiency is positively correlated with Zni+. The Zni+ improved the Fe2+/Fe3+ conversion efficiency and the H2O2 generation ability of the catalyst. The optimized catalysts with 2.27% of Zni+ present a photo-Fenton degradation efficiency of MB as 73.45 mg g(-1) at pH 7 and 78.54 mg g(-1) at pH 4. This strategy can be used to construct CUMSs for a series of narrow bandgap semiconductor materials containing nitrogen atoms.

Automated summary

This study presents a controllable bibonding method to construct coordinatively unsaturated Zni+ (0 < i < 2) active sites by forming N(g-C3N4)-Zn-N-(imidazole) under mild experimental conditions. The catalysts with Zni+ are utilized for the photo-Fenton degradation of methylene blue (MB) without any oxidant, and the degradation efficiency is positively correlated with Zni+. Zni+ improves the Fe2+/Fe3+ conversion efficiency and H2O2 generation ability of the catalysts. The optimized catalysts with 2.27% of Zni+ exhibit photo-Fenton degradation efficiency of MB as 73.45 mg g(-1) at pH 7 and 78.54 mg g(-1) at pH 4. This strategy can be applied to construct coordinatively unsaturated metal sites for a series of narrow bandgap semiconductor materials containing nitrogen atoms.