Waste biomass-derived carbon modified porous graphite carbon nitride heterojunction for efficient photodegradation of oxytetracycline in seawater
A metal-free photocatalyst was developed and synthesized through a single-step thermal treatment process involving banana peel(BP)and urea.The close interfacial connection between biomass-derived carbon(BC)and porous graphite carbon nitride(pg-C3N4)resulted in an increased specific surface area,expanded photo-response range,effective migration of photo-induced electrons,and enhanced stability.The reaction rate constant of pg-C3N4/BC for degradation oxytetracycline(OTC)in artificial seawater was 9.4 times higher than that of pristine pg-C3N4 after 70 min of visible-light illumination,and pg-C3N4/BC also performed better photocatalytic degradation on OTC in the continuous flow reaction process owing to facilitated photogenerated charge separation and transfer.Additionally,a potential photocatalytic mechanism was proposed to explain the enhanced performance of pg-C3N4/BC composites.