Determination of the key role to affect the piezocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation in water.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has been proved to possess intrinsic piezoelectricity and its two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets present piezocatalytic activity to produce hydrogen from water splitting and eliminate organic pollutants in wastewater. Specific surface area and piezoelectric polarization are of great significance to achieve high piezocatalytic activity, but it is difficult to simultaneously improve both of them. Herein, to reveal the dominant role in the piezocatalysis of g-CN, we investigated the effect of exfoliation level on the piezocatalytic activity for degrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TC).

Tribocatalysis of homogeneous material with multi-size granular distribution for degradation of organic pollutants.

Recently, tribocatalysis driven by mechanical energy has been developed by rubbing two kinds of different materials. In this work, we firstly demonstrated that the friction of the single material also could initiate the tribocatalysis for degrading organic dyes. Under magnetic stirring, the multi-size granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles were triboelectrically charged, among which the collision between large and small particles would cause high energy electrons on large particles to transfer to small ones.

Phenanthroline bridging graphitic carbon nitride framework and Fe (II) ions to promote transfer of photogenerated electrons for selective photocatalytic reduction of Nitrophenols.

Nitrophenols (NPs) are widely used in industries and highly toxic to ecological environment and human health. Because aminophenols (APs) are important chemicals, catalytic reduction of NPs via efficient and environment-friendly strategies is of great importance. Herein, we developed a green photocatalysis route to efficiently convert NPs to APs using a Fe (II) modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) photocatalyst, where phenanthroline units were employed to bridge Fe (II) and carbon nitride framework.

Piezoelectric polarization promoted spatial separation of photoexcited electrons and holes in two-dimensional g-CN nanosheets for efficient elimination of chlorophenols.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has been proved to be a potential photocatalyst for environment purification, but the high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers leads to the low photocatalytic efficiency. Herein, we report the enhanced degradation of chlorophenols by 2D ultrathin g-CN nanosheets with intrinsic piezoelectricity through photopiezocatalysis strategy. Under the simultaneous visible-light irradiation and ultrasonic vibration, the 2D g-CN presented improved removal efficiency for elimination of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) with an apparent rate constant of 6.