Enhancement of visible‐light photocatalytic degradation performance over nitrogen‐deficient <scp>g‐C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/KNbO<sub>3</sub></scp> heterojunction photocatalyst
Weilong Shi, Keke Shu, Xiliu Huang, Hongji Ren, Mingyang Li, Fangyan Chen, Feng Guo
Abstract
Abstract BACKGROUND The formation of heterojunction is an effective mean for increasing the photocatalytic activity of single‐phase semiconductor photocatalyst. RESULTS In this report, KNbO 3 /N‐defected g‐C 3 N 4 (KNO/CNx) composites were prepared by an impregnation heat method. The optimized photocatalyst 3% KNO/CNx possesses excellent photocatalytic activity (100 mL, 10 mg/L; 84% degradation within 120 min) in the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light ( λ > 420 nm), and it can reach about 125, 10.71 and 3.75 times the degradation kinetic constants, compared with KNO, CN, and CNx, respectively. Furthermore, 3% KNO/CNx possesses relatively high stability during the entire photoreaction process. CONCLUSION This enhanced photocatalytic activity of KNO/CNx is mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect between the heterojunction and defect engineering, which expand the visible‐light adsorption and accelerate the separation efficiency of photo‐induced electron–hole pairs. The research is expected to be used to improve the structure and properties of KNO‐based composites, which provides a possibility for practical application of environmental restoration. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry