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Visible Light-Induced Photocatalysis: Self-Fenton Degradation of p-ClPhOH Over Graphitic Carbon Nitride by a Polyethylenimine Bifunctional Catalyst

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Abstract

Deep degradation of organic pollutants by sunlight-induced coupled photocatalytic and Fenton (photo-Fenton) reactions is of immense importance for water purification. In this work, we report a novel bifunctional catalyst (Fe-PEI-CN) by codoping graphitic carbon nitride (CN) with polyethyleneimine ethoxylated (PEI) and Fe species, which demonstrated high activity during p-chlorophenol (p-ClPhOH) degradation via H2O2 from the photocatalytic process. The relationship between the catalytic efficiency and the structure was explored using different characterization methods. The Fe modification of CN was achieved through Fe–N coordination, which ensured high dispersion of Fe species and strong stability against leaching during liquid-phase reactions. The Fe modification initiated the Fenton reaction by activating H2O2 into ·OH radicals for deep degradation of p-ClPhOH. In addition, it effectively promoted light absorption and photoelectron–hole (e–h+) separation, corresponding to improved photocatalytic activity. On the other hand, PEI could significantly improve the ability of CN to generate H2O2 through visible light photocatalysis. The maximum H2O2 yield reached up to 102.6 μmol/L, which was 22 times higher than that of primitive CN. The cooperation of photocatalysis and the self-Fenton reaction has led to high-activity mineralizing organic pollutants with strong durability, indicating good potential for practical application in wastewater treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFA0211004), Key Grant of Nation Science Funding of China (No. 22236005), Nation Science Funding of China (No. 22376141), Ministry of Education of China (No. PCSIRT_IRT_16R49), “111” Innovation and Talent Recruitment Base (D18020), Shanghai Government (No. 20ZR1440700), Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Green Energy Chemical Engineering (No. 18DZ2254200), Scientific and Technological Innovation Team for Green Catalysis and Energy Materialien Yunnan Institutions of Higher Learning, and Surface project of Yunnan Province science and technology Department (No. 20210 A070001-050).

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  1. Yuan Bai and Shuangjun Li are contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Resource Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China

    Yuan Bai, Shuangjun Li, Bolin Yin, Jinpeng Zhao & Hexing Li

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Bai, Y., Li, S., Yin, B. et al. Visible Light-Induced Photocatalysis: Self-Fenton Degradation of p-ClPhOH Over Graphitic Carbon Nitride by a Polyethylenimine Bifunctional Catalyst. Trans. Tianjin Univ. 30, 130–139 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12209-024-00386-1

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