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Visible light photocatalysis: efficient Z-scheme LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO photocatalyst for phenol degradation

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Abstract

In this work, a Z-scheme LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO heterojunction photocatalyst with large specific surface (68.758 m2/g) and low cost (0.00035 times the cost of per gram of Au) was easily synthesized by glucose-assisted hydrothermal method. The structure, surface morphology, and optical properties of the photocatalyst were investigated. The constructed Z-scheme heterojunction catalysts can enhance the visible light absorption and carrier separation efficiency. Among these photocatalysts, the 10%-LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO composite possesses the premium performance for efficient degrading 97.43% of phenol within 120 min. Even after 5 cycles, it still sustains an excellent photocatalytic stability (92.13% phenol degradation). According to the XPS surface states and the capture of active species on LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO, the electrons would be transferred from ZnO and LaFeO3 to g-C3N4. In addition, ·OH plays an important role in photocatalytic reactions for phenol degradation. Thus, the proposed possible photocatalytic reaction mechanism of Z-scheme LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO can provide a more economical and efficient conception for phenol degradation.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21166015), Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2018MS02006), Major basic research project of Inner Mongolia (No. 2017081802), Independent scientific research project of Inner Mongolia University (No. 2022032316), Project of Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21865018), the Project Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia (No. 2019MS02001) and Inner Mongolia Self-help Research Project (5227028).

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Author notes

  1. Jinggang Cui and Chang Xu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coal Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, Inner Mongolia, China

    Jinggang Cui, Chang Xu, Ruisheng Hu & Fenrong Liu

  2. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Zehua Jin

  3. School of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310058, Hangzhou, China

    Hongwei Liu

Authors
  1. Jinggang Cui
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  2. Chang Xu
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  4. Hongwei Liu
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  5. Ruisheng Hu
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Contributions

Jinggang Cui: conceptualization, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing — original draft, and writing — review and editing. Chang Xu: conceptualization, writing — review and editing, and supervision. Zehua Jin: formal analysis and investigation. Hongwei Liu: investigation. Ruisheng Hu: writing — original draft, writing — review and editing, resources, funding acquisition, supervision, and project administration. Fenrong Liu: formal analysis, funding acquisition, resources, supervision, writing — original draft, and writing — review and editing. Need to add that, Jinggang Cui and Chang Xu are listed as co-first authors due to their equal contribution to this work. Prof. Ruisheng Hu and Prof. Fenrong Liu are listed as Co-Corresponding author for this work.

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Correspondence to Fenrong Liu.

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Cui, J., Xu, C., Jin, Z. et al. Visible light photocatalysis: efficient Z-scheme LaFeO3/g-C3N4/ZnO photocatalyst for phenol degradation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 96875–96890 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29199-w

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