One-step synthesis of F-TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunction as highly efficient visible-light-active catalysts for tetrabromobisphenol A and sulfamethazine degradation

In order to achieve excellent visible light photoactivity of TiO 2 , it is still urgently required to extend their optical absorption ability and improve the potential of charge separation and migration. Here we synthesized highly efficient visible-light-active catalysts F-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 via a one-step-calcination method. Due to the synergic effect of ≡Ti−F, ≡Ti:F−H and the heterojunction, the obtained catalysts possess promising properties as highly efficient separation and migration of photoelectron-hole pairs. The prepared F-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction can be successfully applied to degrade the widely used flame retardants and antibiotics. More than 95% of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) was decomposed after light illumination for 120 min, and 98% of sulfamethazine (SMZ) was degraded for 60 min by F-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 . Furthermore, a reasonable catalytic mechanism for the F-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 catalysts was proposed. It could be seen that the active species •O 2 − , •OH, and h + played important roles in the photocatalytic process under visible light illumination.