Facile fabrication of recyclable and macroscopic D-g-C3N4/sodium alginates/non-woven fabric immobilized photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity and antibacterial performance.

The immobilization of catalysts hinders the application of nanosized photocatalysts in wastewater treatment. In this study, a simple method for the preparation of flexible composite non-woven catalysts with a good spectral response is presented. Firstly, the porous g-C3N4 nanosheets containing nitrogen defects (DCN) and sodium alginate (SA) were blended to prepare the casting solution and then coated on the surface of polyester and viscose blend non-woven fabric (NW). Finally, the robust three-dimensional composite non-woven catalyst (DCN@SA/NW) was constructed by cross-linking with CaCl2. The as-prepared samples were characterized by different physicochemical techniques including SEM, EDS, FTIR, Raman, XRD, XPS, and TGA. The photocatalytic degradation of dyes and antibiotics and self-cleaning and antibacterial properties of the catalyst were investigated. The optimal DCN@SA/NW formulation was 2.0 wt.% DCN and 2.0 wt.% SA. The DCN@SA/NW composite efficiently degraded rhodamine (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). Moreover, the synthesized non-woven composite catalyst was easily recycled and remained stable, indicating its promising potential in wastewater treatment. The DCN@SA/NW also exhibited outstanding self-cleaning and antibacterial performance. This study provides an interesting idea for the research and development of immobilized photocatalysts and has great potential in future practical photocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]