Pyrrole nitrogen coordinated Fe on carbon nitride mediated singlet oxygen formation for efficient degradation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole

We report a rational and scalable synthetic approach to prepare Fe-decorated carbon nitride materials assisted by carbonized polyamine (C-Fe@PDA-CN). The material exhibited extremely high activity and stability for the degradation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) and other organic pollutants (phenol, BPA , MB , and RhB) under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, escape from CN to C-Fe@PDA provides an electron transfer channel to facilitate carrier separation and accelerate the generation of active species, as confirmed by photoluminescence , photoelectrochemical, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Fe exists in the material coordinated with the pyrrole nitrogen of polydopamine. This coordination structure is conducive to the generation of singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ). It is confirmed by steady-state phosphorescence spectroscopy (PH) that 1 O 2 originates from electron transfer. Superoxide radicals are generated by electron transfer and then oxidized into 1 O 2 by holes. The main intermediates of MBT degradation were identified by the LC-MS method, and a possible photocatalytic mechanism based on quenching experiments and EPR tests was proposed.