Hollow porous carbon nitride immobilized on carbonized nanofibers for highly efficient visible light photocatalytic removal of NO

With the deterioration of air quality, great efforts were devoted to designing various photocatalysts for effective removal of NOx in air. However, the present photocatalysts have a fatal problem of low photocatalytic efficiency. In this work, a hollow porous carbon nitride nanosphere coupled with reduced graphene oxide (HCNS/rGO) was exploited as a visible-light photocatalyst to remove nitrogen monoxide in air at a low concentration (600 ppb level) under irradiation of an energy saving lamp. HCNS/rGO showed a NO removal ratio of 64%, which was superior to that of most other visible-light photocatalysts. The excellent photocatalytic ability of HCNS/rGO originates from the hollow porous morphology of HCNS and the grafted rGO on the surface. HCNS/rGO was immobilized on porous carbonized polymer nanofibers to obtain a photocatalytic membrane without affecting photocatalytic efficiency. Furthermore, the membrane showed excellent photochemical stability and recyclability.