Abstract
Fe2O3, as an earth-abundant photo catalyst for water purification, has attracted great attention. However, the high-spin Fe~(III) in traditional Fe2O3 restricts its catalytic performance. In this work, based on the nanocrystal size alteration strategy, cubic Fe2O3 nanoclusters (3-4 nm) with low-spin Fe~(III) were successfully anchored on sixfold cavities of the supramolecular condensed g-C3N4 rod (FCN) through the impregnation-coprecipitation method. FCN showed high photo catalytic activity, as the d band center of Fe 3d orbital (-1.79 eV) in low-spin Fe~(III) shifted closer to Femi level, generating a weaker antibonding state. Then, the enhanced bonding state strengthened the interaction between Fe and O, further accelerating the charge carrier separation and enhancing its ability to capture OH~-. Thus, low-spin Fe~(III) enhanced the production of dominant reactive oxygen species (·OH/·O2~-), promoting diclofenac photocatalytic degradation under solar light, with a kinetic rate constant (0.206 min~(-1)) of ～5 times compared with that of pristine g-C3N4.
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