A carbon-rich g-C3N4 with promoted charge separation for highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin

Abstract

Abstract A novel carbon-rich g-C3N4 nanosheets with large surface area was prepared by facile thermal polymerization method using urea and 1,3,5-cyclohexanetriol. Plenty of carbon-rich functional groups were introduced into the surface layers of g-C3N4, which constructed the built-in electric field (BIEF) and resulted in improved charge separation; therefore, the carbon-rich g-C3N4 displayed superior photocatalytic activity for amoxicillin degradation under solar light. The contaminant degradation mechanism was proposed based on radical quenching experiments, intermediates analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Moreover, the reusing experiments showed the high stability of the material, and the amoxicillin degradation under various water matrix parameters indicated its high applicability on pollutants treatment, all of which demonstrated its high engineering application potentials.