0D carbon dots intercalated Z-scheme CuO/g-C3N4 heterojunction with dual charge transfer pathways for synergetic visible-light-driven photo-Fenton-like catalysis

Xiaocui Wu; Qingshan Zhao; Jinqiang Zhang; Shuli Li; Hui Liu; Kai Liu; Yiwen Li; Demin Kong; Hongqi Sun; Mingbo Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.052

0D carbon dots intercalated Z-scheme CuO/g-C₃N₄ heterojunction with dual charge transfer pathways for synergetic visible-light-driven photo-Fenton-like catalysis

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Mar 15:634:972-982. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.052. Epub 2022 Dec 14.

Authors

Xiaocui Wu¹, Qingshan Zhao², Jinqiang Zhang³, Shuli Li⁴, Hui Liu⁵, Kai Liu⁶, Yiwen Li⁷, Demin Kong⁸, Hongqi Sun⁹, Mingbo Wu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: xiaocuiwu1218@foxmail.com.
² State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: qszhao@upc.edu.cn.
³ School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia. Electronic address: jinqiang.zhang@adelaide.edu.au.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: 627050857@qq.com.
⁵ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China. Electronic address: lh@ytu.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: 1219899307@qq.com.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: 2382244616@qq.com.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: 809674551@qq.com.
⁹ School of Science, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia. Electronic address: h.sun@ecu.edu.au.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. Electronic address: wumb@upc.edu.cn.

PMID: 36571859
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.052

Abstract

Photo-Fenton-like catalysis allows development of novel advanced oxidation technology with promising application in wastewater treatment. In this work, carbon dots (CDs) were intercalated between CuO nanoparticles and coralloid flower-like graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) to fabricate a ternary CuO/CDs/g-C₃N₄ hybrid for synergetic visible-light-driven photo-Fenton-like oxidation. The CuO/CDs/g-C₃N₄ hybrid showed remarkable degradation efficiency towards recalcitrant organic contamination, excellent tolerance to realistic environmental conditions, exceptional stability and wide universality, declaring great potential for practical applications. •OH and •O₂^- radicals were demonstrated to be the primary contributors in the photo-Fenton-like system. Mechanism studies reveal dual charge transfer pathways in the Z-scheme CuO/g-C₃N₄ heterojunction assisted by interfacial electron transmission bridges of CDs, which can simultaneously boost the reduction of Cu²⁺ to Cu⁺ in the Fenton-like cycle and accelerate the Z-scheme electron flow from CuO to g-C₃N₄, leading to synergistic enhancement of the catalytic performance. This work would afford a feasible strategy to develop reinforced solar energy-assisted photo-Fenton-like catalysis systems for water remediation.

Keywords: Carbon dots; CuO; Z-scheme heterojunction; g-C(3)N(4); photo-Fenton-like catalysis.