Ultra-dispersed W-doped carbon nitride anchoring on ceramic via the regulation of electrostatic field for efficient degradation of cationic surfactant

To improve the dispersion and electronic transmission performance of carbon nitride (C 3 N 4 ), an electrostatic field regulation strategy was developed for constructing an ultra-dispersed and high reactive W-doped C 3 N 4 /ceramic (W/C 3 N 4 @ceramic) composite, which was used as a photocatalyst for degrading low-concentration cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) under visible light irradiation to achieve the goal of “enhanced enrichment/catalytic degradation”. The ceramic with strong electrostatic field can rapidly capture the interlayer electrons and break the hydrogen bonds in the lamellar skeletons of massive C 3 N 4 , leading to the structure of C 3 N 4 from bulk to nanosheet. W/C 3 N 4 @ceramic exhibited outstanding adsorption capacity (CTAB removal rate of 68.2% within 30 min in the dark) and photocatalytic activity (CTAB degradation rate of 93.9% within 90 min under light irradiation), which were much higher than those adsorbed (21.9%) and photocatalyzed (46.6%) by W/C 3 N 4 . The improved photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to that the ultra-dispersed nanosheets shortened the charge transfer path to accelerate the transmission and separation efficiency of photogenerated charges and increase specific surface area to provide abundant active sites. Moreover, CTAB can be spontaneously adsorbed on the surface of ceramic driven by electrostatic field, thus accelerating the interfacial transport and promoting photocatalytic efficiency. This work provides a novel strategy for the development of efficient catalysts with enhanced adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity.