Lignin-modified graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production and degradation of brilliant black BN.

As a renewable aromatic compound with enormous production potential, lignin has various potential high-value utilization pathways, but the success achieved in the field of photocatalysis is limited. Herein, this work prepares a new type of photocatalyst by modifying Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanotubes (CNT) with self-assembled lignin nanospheres for the photocatalytic production of H ₂ O ₂ and the degradation of azo dyes. Under light conditions, lignin enhances the production of H ₂ O ₂ through oxygen reduction and collaborates with carbon nitride tubes to generate O ₂ ^- and ¹ O ₂ . Furthermore, carbon nitride tubes form electron-rich regions with lignin, promoting the transfer of electrons from adsorbed aromatic pollutants to this region, thereby facilitating their degradation. The experimental results indicate that the addition of 5 % lignin significantly enhances the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of azo dyes, with a degradation rate 1.87 times higher than that of the original carbon nitride tubes. Furthermore, CNL also have excellent degradation ability to pollutants in actual wastewater. This study provides new insights and prospects for the high-value utilization of lignin, enabling it to be used as a photocatalytic co-catalyst to participate in the photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled.
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