Applied Surface Science, Vol.487, 82-90, 2019
Ag1.69Sb2.27O6.25 coupled carbon nitride photocatalyst with high redox potential for efficient multifunctional environmental applications
Most photocatalysts cannot exhibit high efficiency to remove both gaseous and aqueous pollutants due to the limitation of redox potential and chemical property of photocatalyst itself, which will hinder the broad application of the photocatalysts. Herein, silver antimonite (Ag1.69Sb2.27O6.25) is coupled with polymeric carbon nitride (CN) as efficient photocatalyst for various environmental remediation reactions. The UV-visible light adsorption spectra, valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron spin resonance spectra of different photogenerated radicals have confirmed that the transfer of electrons and holes have high redox potential to produce reactive O-2 center dot(-) and OH center dot. The Ag1.69Sb2.27O6.25 coupled CN photocatalyst produces much enhanced activity in removing various pollutants in that it exhibits about 15 folds as CN in mineralizing gaseous isopropanol into CO2, 5 folds as Ag1.69Sb2.27O6.25 in destructing aqueous oxytetracycline hydrochloride, and 10 folds as Ag1.69Sb2.27O6.25 in decoloring methylene blue under the irradiation of visible light. Control experiments in presence of scavengers p-benzoquinone and coumarin have revealed that both electrons and holes in heterojunctions participate in degradation reactions, which induce the much enhanced photocatalytic activity in removing pollutants. This study provides a facile strategy to design photocatalysts for efficient multifunctional environmental applications.
Keywords:Photocatalysis;Silver antimonites;Photodegradation;Heterojunction;Environmental remediation