Functional Partition of Fe and Ti Co-Doped G-C3n4 for Photo-Fenton Degradation of OTC: Performance, Mechanism, and Dft Study

Abstract

In the present work, we successfully synthesized Fe and Ti co-doped g-C3N4 (FTCN). Compared to g-C3N4 (CN), Fe-doped g-C3N4 (FCN) and Ti-doped g-C3N4 (TCN), FTCN exhibited better photo-Fenton degradation efficiency of OTC (90% within 10 min). The porous structure and the reduced bandgap facilitated the catalytic effect. According to the DFT calculation, the doping of Fe and Ti led to the rearrangement of the electronic structure of CN, and the electron transfer ability was enhanced. Moreover, Fe and Ti, as dominant H2O2 and O2 active center, were involved in the photo-Fenton degradation process of OTC, respectively. Eventually, the mechanism of photo-Fenton degradation of OTC by FTCN was discussed in detail through trapping experiments and analysis of intermediates. The present work demonstrates that the synergistic effect of bimetallic doping plays a significant role in enhancing the catalytic performance of g-C3N4 and provides a possible approach to design highly efficient g-C3N4-based catalysts.

Keywords: g-C3N4, bimetallic doping, improved degradation efficiency, Density functional theory study, functional partition