Construction of fish-scale tubular carbon nitride-based heterojunction with boosting charge separation in photocatalytic tetracycline degradation and H2O2 production

Abstract

A fish-scale tubular carbon nitride (FTCNso) and its heterojunction ZnIn2S4/FTCNso were constructed to enhance the ability of photocatalytic tetracycline degradation and H2O2 production under visible light. The photocatalysts were analyzed through a variety of techniques. Firstly, the surface of FTCNso was composed of fish-scale nanoplatelets with abundant structural defects by SEM. Secondly, the results of UV–vis and theoretical calculation proved the improvement of visible light absorption performance of ZnIn2S4/FTCNso. Thirdly, the electrochemical tests confirmed the ZnIn2S4/FTCNso effectively inhibited the recombination of photogenerated e−-h+ pairs. Meanwhile, the electronic-structural properties and photocatalytic mechanism were systematically and deeply studied by combining UV–vis, XPS valence band, theoretical calculations and capture experiments of active species in different pH solution. ZnIn2S4/FTCNso exhibited excellent performance in photocatalytic tetracycline degradation and H2O2 production under visible light due to the special structure and the existence of heterojunction. This work provides guidance for the development and design of new multifunctional carbon nitride-based materials.