In-situ Fe-doped g-C3N4 heterogeneous catalyst via photocatalysis-Fenton reaction with enriched photocatalytic performance for removal of complex wastewater

Abstract In this work, an in-situ Fe-doped g-C3N4 catalyst was synthesized by thermal shrinkage polymerization. A heterogeneous photocatalysis-Fenton system was formed with the addition of H2O2 under visible irradiation and exhibited excellent and recyclable removal performance for refractory contaminants such as: phenol, bisphenol A, 2, 4-dichlorophenol and coking wastewater, which was due to the formation of σ-π bonds via Fe and N element in the triazine ring skeleton of Fe-g-C3N4. The electrons generated can be quickly transferred to Fe3+ to form Fe2+ under the interaction of the chemical bond. The efficiency of photoelectron separation was accelerated, and OH radicals were quickly generated with the reaction between Fe2+ and H2O2. Specifically, the recycling of Fe can be achieved in the heterogeneous system, which avoids the problems for the recycling and secondary pollution of Fe ions in homogeneous Fenton reaction. Parameters such as Fe doping amount, hydrogen peroxide concentration, pH value, catalyst concentration, and complex wastewater (coking wastewater) were optimized. The degradation of coking wastewater were also performed, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) values for 300 ml coking wastewater could be reduced from 64.6 and 25.3 mg/L to 22.8 and 12.3 mg/L in 60 min, respectively. These results demonstrate photocatalysis-Fenton reaction with Fe-g-C3N4 catalyst is promising for environmental remediation.