Construction of Z scheme S-g-CN/BiOI photocatalysts for enhanced photocatalytic removal of Hg and carrier separation.

Photocatalysis has demonstrated the potential to solve challenges in various practical application fields such as energy and environmental science due to its environmental friendliness. However, the photocatalytic activity is mainly affected by the weak absorption of visible light and the low separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. Herein, an S-doped g-CN/BiOI heterojunction was designed by the calcination method. It was found that S doping not only reduces the band gap of g-CN, which raises the optical absorption boundary of g-CN from 465 nm to 550 nm. At the same time, the introduction of S elements leads to new doping energy levels, which can act as photogenerated electron trapping centers and thus inhibit the complexation of photogenerated carriers. Second, the construction of the heterojunction greatly facilitates the transport of carriers and the separation of electrons and holes driven by the built-in electric field. Finally, the abundant oxygen vacancies in the system result in defective energy levels that not only promote the activation of molecular oxygen, but also act as photogenerated electron traps, which further boost the separation of electron-hole pairs. Benefiting from the optimized performance, the photocatalytic reaction rates of S-doped g-CN/BiOI are 5.2 and 2.1 times higher than those of g-CN and BiOI, respectively. This work provides a viable idea for the potential development of non-metal doping combined with heterojunction photocatalytic systems.