TY - JOUR
T1 - Cyano group modified graphitic carbon nitride with K intercalation for sustainable photodegradation of pharmaceutical waste
AU - Lee, Jiale
AU - Tan, Xin Yu
AU - Ng, Boon-Junn
AU - Kong, Xin Ying
AU - Chai, Siang-Piao
AU - Tan, Lling-Lling
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Monash University Malaysia under the MUM-ASEAN Research Grant Scheme [ref. no: ASE-000010].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Background: Pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) pollutants in the aquatic environment are worrying as the conventional treatment processes are challenging due to the low molecular weight and strong hydrophilicity of PPCPs. The nontoxic g-C3N4 is highly promising for sustainable environmental remediation but suffers from key bottlenecks of rapid charge recombination and poor light absorption capacity. Methods: Potassium-intercalated g-C3N4 (K-CN) was prepared by a facile alkali and heat treatment with varying KOH concentrations. Significant findings: The photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4 was significantly improved where the best acetaminophen degradation efficiency and the corresponding pseudo-first-order rate constant over 1.2K-CN were 2.51-fold and 5.29-fold higher relative to pristine g-C3N4. This is ascribed to the formation of cyano group and intercalation of K atoms in g-C3N4, which were corroborated through various characterization techniques to reveal the greater light absorbance, narrowed band gap, effective charge transfer, and suppressed electron-hole recombination. Furthermore, superoxide anions (•O2−) were verified to be the leading reactive species for acetaminophen photodegradation, followed by photoinduced holes (h+) and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals. Overall, this work provides a simple yet effective approach to boost the performance of g-C3N4 and is anticipated to initiate further research in sustainable pharmaceutical wastewater degradation.
AB - Background: Pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) pollutants in the aquatic environment are worrying as the conventional treatment processes are challenging due to the low molecular weight and strong hydrophilicity of PPCPs. The nontoxic g-C3N4 is highly promising for sustainable environmental remediation but suffers from key bottlenecks of rapid charge recombination and poor light absorption capacity. Methods: Potassium-intercalated g-C3N4 (K-CN) was prepared by a facile alkali and heat treatment with varying KOH concentrations. Significant findings: The photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4 was significantly improved where the best acetaminophen degradation efficiency and the corresponding pseudo-first-order rate constant over 1.2K-CN were 2.51-fold and 5.29-fold higher relative to pristine g-C3N4. This is ascribed to the formation of cyano group and intercalation of K atoms in g-C3N4, which were corroborated through various characterization techniques to reveal the greater light absorbance, narrowed band gap, effective charge transfer, and suppressed electron-hole recombination. Furthermore, superoxide anions (•O2−) were verified to be the leading reactive species for acetaminophen photodegradation, followed by photoinduced holes (h+) and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals. Overall, this work provides a simple yet effective approach to boost the performance of g-C3N4 and is anticipated to initiate further research in sustainable pharmaceutical wastewater degradation.
KW - Acetaminophen
KW - Carbon nitride
KW - Cyano defect
KW - Environmental remediation
KW - Pharmaceutical waste
KW - Photocatalysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143495270&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtice.2022.104617
DO - 10.1016/j.jtice.2022.104617
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143495270
SN - 1876-1070
VL - 142
JO - Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
JF - Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
M1 - 104617
ER -