Abstract
In this work, g-C3N4/TiO2 composites were fabricated through a hydrothermal method for the efficient photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid (IMI) pesticide. The composites were fabricated at varying loading of sonochemically exfoliated g-C3N4 (denoted as CNS). Complementary characterization results indicate that the heterojunction between the CNS and TiO2 formed. Among the composites, the 0.5CNS/TiO2 material gave the highest photocatalytic activity (93% IMI removal efficiency) under UV-Vis light irradiation, which was 2.2 times over the pristine g-C3N4. The high photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/TiO2 composites could be ascribed to the band gap energy reduction and suppression of photo-induced charge carrier recombination on both TiO2 and CNS surfaces. In addition, it was found that the active species involved in the photodegradation process are OH• and holes, and a possible mechanism was proposed. The g-C3N4/TiO2 photocatalysts exhibited stable photocatalytic performance after regeneration, which shows that g-C3N4/TiO2 is a promising material for the photodegradation of imidacloprid pesticide in wastewater.
Highlights
Imidacloprid (IMI), which is the most widely used pesticide in the group of neonicotinoids, is a pesticide that is used in agriculture such as in crop protection against aphids, leafhoppers, psyllids beetles, etc. [1], and parasite management [2]
In this work, g-C3N4 nanosheets were exfoliated from bulk-g-C3N4 by thermal exfoliation in the presence of HNO3
The exfoliated g-C3N4 resulted in nanosheets with a large specific surface area and N vacancy defects, which can be prepared and further used in the fabrication of TiO2 base composites having superior photocatalytic activity, under UV-Vis light irradiation, to bulk the g-C3N4 and g-C3N4/TiO2 composites
Summary
Imidacloprid (IMI), which is the most widely used pesticide in the group of neonicotinoids, is a pesticide that is used in agriculture such as in crop protection against aphids, leafhoppers, psyllids beetles, etc. [1], and parasite management [2]. The use of neonicotinoids has been registered in approximately 120 countries worldwide [3], and IMI is one of the top ten global agrochemicals used as a pesticide worldwide [4] It acts as a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist that interferes with the transmission in the central nervous system of insects and results in paralysis and death [5]. Photocatalysis by coupling with other semiconductor materials is a beneficial method to improve the electron recombination process and extend the visible light absorption, which can enhance the photocatalytic performance. The possible photodegradation mechanism was proposed in this study
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