A novel g-C3N4/g-C3N4_x homojunction with efficient interfacial charge transfer for photocatalytic degradation of atrazine and tetracycline

The abuse of pesticides and antibiotics and their harm to the environment are the disadvantages of modern agriculture and breeding industry. g-C3N4 has shown great potential in photocatalytic water pollution purifi-cation under visible light irradiation, however, the conventional g-C3N4 suffers from the disadvantage of limited optical absorption and serious charge recombination, resulting in inefficient light energy conversion and pollutant degradation. This study provides a strategy of combining defect engineering with a built-in electric field to prepare homojunction a photocatalyst with high optical absorption rate and charge separation efficiency. Experiments and DFT simulation revealed the mechanism of significant improvement in the photocatalytic performance of the prepared catalyst, and proposed the pollutant degradation pathway. In addition, the pho-tocatalytic effects of the prepared catalysts on different natural water bodies, natural light, and various water conditions were investigated, revealing the applicability of the catalysts in the purification of pollutants in various water environments.

Automated summary

This study successfully prepared a photocatalyst with high optical absorption rate and charge separation efficiency by combining defect engineering with a built-in electric field, and investigated its purification effect in different water environments.