Abstract
The behaviour of graphitic carbon nitride photocatalysis for phenol removal and H2O2 evolution was fully analysed by kinetic modelling, rediscovering the contribution of oxygen, reactive oxygen species, photogenerated holes and intermediate products.
Highlights
Graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) is a polymeric photo-responsive semiconductor capable of stimulating several reactions in different fields of application
The PhOH removal is attributed to the reactive species generated by the photocatalytic process since PhOH showed negligible photodegradation under visible radiation and is not removed by adsorption on the catalyst surface.[58]
The PhOH molecule can behave as a proton donor, a property that has been widely exposed as being able to H2O2 generation.[67]
Summary
Graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) is a polymeric photo-responsive semiconductor capable of stimulating several reactions in different fields of application. GCN has been thoroughly investigated for the photocatalytic removal of recalcitrant chemical compounds from different waters and wastewaters, including those from industry or wastewater treatment plants (e.g., organic dyes, phenols, pharmaceuticals and personal care products).[11,12,13,14,15] In addition, GCN has attracted significant attention as a non-metallic material for eco-friendly H2O2 production.[16,17,18,19] For this, heterogeneous photocatalysis takes the benefit of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as the case of oxy-radicals (hydroxyl – HO, superoxide – O2 ̇−, among others) These radicals can be generated by oxidation reactions in the valence band (VB) and by reduction reactions in the conduction band (CB). The oxidation reaction between the photogenerated positive hole (h+) and aromatic molecules has been shown that is an additional advantage in the photocatalytic application of this material due to the simultaneous H2O2 generation.[20,21] The latter is of particular interest for water treatment because H2O2 is an oxidant that can generate more ROS, namely the HOradicals (Fig. 1)
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