Degradation characteristics of p-nitrophenol and atenolol by carbon nitride modified by graphene quantum dots

Photocatalysis is a promising technology for wastewater treatment. It is of great significance to find catalysts with high photoactivity. In this paper, a catalyst with high photocatalytic degradation efficiency to organic wastewater, carbon nitride modified by graphene quantum dots (SCN-GQDX), is prepared by supramolecular self-assembly thermal polycondensation method and doping graphene quantum dots (GQDs). The results show that SCN-GQD0.5 has the best catalytic performance, and its photocatalytic degradation efficiency to organic pollutants can reach 86% and still remains above 83% after five cycles, which shows the modified carbon nitride has high catalytic efficiency and stability. In a word, SCN-GQDX is a highly efficient, non-toxic and stable photocatalyst for organic pollutants in wastewater.