One‐step simple green method to prepare carbon‐doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets for boosting visible‐light photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

Abstract BACKGROUND Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) is a rising star amongst semiconductor photocatalysts. However, rapid recombination of electron–hole pairs and poor visible‐light absorption seriously limit its practical applications in photocatalysis. RESULTS A carbon (C)‐doped g‐C 3 N 4 (C‐CN) photocatalyst was prepared by a simple one‐step thermal polymerization for the degradation of high‐concentration tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation . In particular, the C‐CN‐5 sample had the best TC (30 mg L –1 ) degradation effect, reaching 77% within 60 min. CONCLUSION The photocatalytic performance of C‐CN was enhanced for two main reasons: (i) the doping of C enhances the visible light absorption capacity of g‐C 3 N 4 and (ii) introduction of C promotes higher charge separation efficiency of g‐C 3 N 4 . In addition, the reduced toxicity of degraded products of TC over as‐prepared C‐CN photocatalyst was confirmed by a bean sprout cultivation experiment. This work provides a useful design idea for the synthesis of C‐doped g‐C 3 N 4 through a simple and green route. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).