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Effective photoexcitation and carrier migration are the essential aspects to strengthen semiconductor-engaged redox reaction. Herein, a three-dimensional thin-wall hollow porous cystic-like g-C 3 N 4 (HPCN) with curved layer edge was successfully fabricated via a non-template thermal-condensation strategy. The construction of unique distorted structure can evoke the hard-to-activate n→π* electronic transition to some extent, broadening the absorption spectrum to 800 nm. And benefiting from the multiple reflections of incident light, the effective photoactivation can be further achieved. Moreover, the thin-wall porous framework can shorten the diffusion distance and accelerate migration of photogenerated charge, favouring interfacial redox reactions. The optimized HPCN 1.0 demonstrated an excellent photocatalytic degradation of SMX under blue-LED light irradiation, which was dramatically superior to that of pristine g-C 3 N 4 (CN, 11.4 times). Ultimately, in consideration of reactions under several influencing factors with four different water samples, we demonstrated that the HPCN photocatalyst could be utilized far more productively for the elimination of SMX under real-world aqueous conditions. This work provides a straightforward approach for the removal of SMX and has immense potential to contribute to global scale environmental remediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Antibiotics are widespread in the environment with notable ecological risk, for which efficient and green removal technologies are demanded. As a kind of g-C 3 N 4 -based material with remarkable photocatalytic property, OCN is an oxygen- and nitrogen-linked carbon nitride organic polymer which can be synthesized through a single-step thermal polymerization method. In this study, OCN was applied for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of a typical fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics enrofloxacin (ENR). The photocatalysis process achieved over 97% ENR removal within 60 min with 0.4 mg/L OCN and 4 mg/L ENR at pH 8.2. The photocatalytic mechanism of OCN at different pH was studied for the first time. It was shown that O 2 ⋅- , 1 O 2 and h + made contributions at neutral or basic pH and 1 O 2 contributes the most (57.6% at pH 8.2), while ⋅OH played a role only under acidic condition with a contribution rate of 23.8% at pH 3.2. The cleavage of the piperazine ring and the quinolone ring were two main degradation pathways. The common water constituents humic acid and NO 3 - showed a dual effect, but HCO 3 - and Cl - inhibited the degradation. The effect of different water matrices was tested under natural sunlight and it was only a tiny disturbance to the degradation rates. The biotoxicity test conducted using Vibrio fischeri indicated that the toxicity of degradation products became negligible after 3 h. This study demonstrated that OCN is a promising candidate for the advanced treatment and in-situ remediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hydroxyl radicals (OH) have robust non-selective oxidizing properties to effectively degrade organic pollutants. However, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) is restricted to directly generate OH due to its intrinsic valence band. In this study, we report a facile environmental-friendly self-modification strategy to synthesize reduced graphitic carbon nitride (RCN), with nitrogen vacancies and CN functional groups. The incorporation of CN enabled to downshift the valence band level, which endowed RCN with the capacity to directly generate OH via h + . Experimental and instrumental analyses revealed the critical roles of nitrogen vacancies and CN groups in the modification of the RCN band structure to improve its visible light absorption and oxidizing capacity. With these superior properties, the RCN was significantly enhanced for the photocatalytic degradation of DCF under visible light irradiation. The self-modification strategy articulated in this study has strong potential for the creation of customized g-C 3 N 4 band structures with enhanced oxidation performance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the objective was mainly focusing on the mechanism investigation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation by photocatalytic ozonation process which carried out by ozone and TiO 2 with a low content of carbon-dots (CDs) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The physicochemical properties of the prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and zeta potential. Comprehensive investigation has proven the process to be efficient in the removal of CIP with high yield of reactive species (OH, O 2 - , h + , etc.). Kinetic model on pH investigation found out a repulsive force between the photocatalysts and CIP intensified with the increasing pH, so did the production rate of hydroxyl radicals (OH), while eventually reached a balance and achieved a maximum degradation rate. The results indicated that the enhancement mechanism was triggered by the photoexcited electron accumulated on CDs and transferred by ozone, resulting in the continuous generation of h+, O 3 - and O 2 - . Possible photocatalytic ozonation degradation pathways of CIP were proposed according to the identifications of intermediates using high-resolution accurate-mass spectrometry (HRAM) LC-MS/MS., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In recent years, how to effectively remove emerging organic pollutants in water bodies has been studied extensively, especially in the actual complex water environment. In the present study, an effective wastewater treatment system that combined photocatalysis and an oxidizing agent was investigated. Specifically, visible-light driven reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/TiO 2 composites were prepared, and peroxodisulfate (PDS) was used as electron acceptor to accelerate the photocatalytic activity of this material. The vis-RGO/TiO 2 /PDS system exhibited outstanding properties in the degradation of diclofenac (DCF), which was also facilitated by acidic conditions and Cl - . Lake water, tap water, river water and HCO 3 - decreased the DCF degradation rate, while NO 3 - affected the system only slightly. Low concentrations of fulvic acid (FA) promoted the degradation of DCF via the generation of excited states, whereas a high concentration of FA inhibited the degradation, which was likely due to the light screening effect. The photocatalytic mechanism revealed that PDS served as an electron acceptor for the promotion of electron-hole pair separation and the generation of additional reactive oxygen species, while the RGO served as an electric conductor. The active substances, h + , OH, 1 O 2 , SO 4 - and O 2 - were generated in this system, O 2 - and h + played significant roles in the degradation of DCF based electron spin resonance tests and radical quenching results. According to the mass spectrometry results, the amide bond cleavage, dechlorination reaction, hydroxyl addition reaction, and decarboxylation reaction were the primary transformative pathways., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pharmaceutically emerging micropollutants have become an environmental concern in recent years. In the present paper, the reactive species (RSs)-induced degradation mechanism of clofibric acid (CA) was investigated using a newly sunlight-driven g-C 3 N 4 /P25 photocatalyst. A very low g-C 3 N 4 content of 8.0 weight percent resulted in a 3.36 and a 2.29 times faster reaction rate for CA photodegradation than for pristine g-C 3 N 4 and P25, respectively. Electron spin resonance and quenching experiments demonstrated the participation of HO, h + , e - , 1 O 2 and O 2 ·- in the photocatalytic system, and the contribution rates were calculated to 73.3%, 15.3%, 5.1%, 6.7% and 33.1%, respectively. According to the pulse radiolysis measurements and the competitive kinetics approaches, the bimolecular reaction rate constants for HO, e - , and 1 O 2 with CA were (8.47 ± 0.33) × 10 9  M -1 s -1 , (6.41 ± 0.48) × 10 9  M -1 s -1 and (6.6 ± 0.37) × 10 6  M -1 s -1 , respectively. RSs were found to significantly influence the degradation of CA, and the degradation pathways occurred primarily via e - reduction, HO addition and 1 O 2 attack reactions on the basis of mass spectrometry and theoretical calculations., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)