The development of new pigments: Colorful g-C3N4-based catalysts for nicotine removal

The comfortable, beautiful and healthy residential environment has been a target pursued by human beings. However, the inevitable presences of indoor air pollutants such as nicotine which release from tobacco smoking imperceptibly invade people's health. Here, we developed new pigments consisted by colorful graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 )-based catalysts, which were fabricated by facile calcining and water bath refluxing procedures. The catalytic pigments exhibited a high catalytic activity for the removal of nicotine under sunlight or even light emitting diode (LED). The designed experiments revealed that superoxide radicals ( O 2 − ) were main active species in g-C 3 N 4 -based catalysts system and played a significant role in removing contaminants. Noteworthy, the catalysts as pigments were successfully used for coloring textiles and painting. Both the catalytic textiles and paintings were provided with preferably photocatalytic performance and reusability. The catalytic pigments were simple to prepare, brightly colored and could effectively degrade nicotine, thus not only have decorative effect, enriching the spiritual world, but also contribute to the protection of the environment of human life.