Polymer dot sensitized Cu۲O/g-C۳N۴ S-scheme heterojunction for enhanced photoelectrochemical degradation of tetracycline

The abuse of antibiotic drugs causes residues in natural water, damaging ecosystems and affecting human health. Hydroxyl radical (radical •OH) species are recognized as a promising strategy for deep purification of water with high efficiency, and environmentally friendly. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) degradation is a potential clean technique to achieve the mass production of radical •OH for effective pollutant treatment. Here, we proposed a photoanode-based electrophoretic deposition of protonated graphitic-carbon nitride (p-g-C۳N۴) in Cu۲O sensitized with polymeric quantum dot (pQDs) as an S-scheme heterostructure to produce robust light harvesting, charge separation and transfer to enhanced radical •OH with sustainable solar energy for robust tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) degradation. The deep valence band of Cu۲O provides the suitable potential for radical •OH generation. Experiments of photoelectrochemical, XPS, UPS, etc. confirmed the synergistic close interfacial contact of the constructed p-QDs sensitized S-scheme p-g-C۳N۴/Cu۲O. Thus, the reusable and stable nanostructures exhibit the best PEC TC-HCl removal rate (۹۹% within ۱۰۰ min) as well as can be served as an efficient approach for the remediation of antibiotic-contaminated wastewater and sustainable environmental protection.

کلیدواژه ها:

Tetracycline ، Cu۲O ، p-g-C۳N۴ ، Photoelectrocatalysis ، Heterojunction ، Polymer dot