Issue 13, 2024

Solid-waste-recycled CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic antibiotic degradation

Abstract

With the increasing severity of antibiotic pollution, the development of effective green photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants in water has attracted extensive attention. Herein, we have prepared CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterogeneous photocatalysts via recycling Cu resources from Cu-containing electroplating sludges. By mediating the acid leaching process, copper in electroplating sludges was dissolved selectively, while other metal species were retained in the residues. The CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunction not only effectively suppressed the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers of C3N4, but also preserved the strong reducing electrons of C3N4 and the strong oxidizing holes of CuO, retaining the outstanding redox ability of CuO/C3N4. Therefore, CuO/C3N4 photocatalysts exhibited good catalytic performance in the degradation of tetracycline (over 95% in 2 h). In addition, CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunctions achieved a high mineralization rate (45% in 2 hours), thus reducing secondary pollution during the degradation. This work provides a reliable direction for designing novel S-scheme heterojunction photocatalytic materials by using metal sources in solid waste.

Graphical abstract: Solid-waste-recycled CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic antibiotic degradation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 dec 2023
Accepted
29 feb 2024
First published
29 feb 2024

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 6488-6494

Solid-waste-recycled CuO/C3N4 S-scheme heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic antibiotic degradation

J. Liu, J. Lin, K. Yi, F. Liu, F. Gao, M. Wang and F. Huang, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 6488 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR06410G

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