LiCl–CN nanotubes ceramic films with highly efficient visible light - Driven photocatalytic active for bisphenol A degradation and efficient regeneration process

In this research, well-crystallized lithium chloride (LiCl) intercalated graphite carbonitride (g-C3N4) nanotubes (LiCl–CN) as ceramic films have been rationally designed and fabricated through the molten salt preparation. The as-synthetic material exhibited nanotube morphology and showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance on the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) compared with g-C3N4 in the presence of simulated solar light. The catalytic performance of LiCl–CN was remarkably improved due to the structural alteration of g-C3N4. The results demonstrated 100% BPA could be effectively removed with 0.3 g/L LiCl–CN at pH 5.0 in this investigated reactive system, and the degradation behavior was consistent with pseudo first order reaction kinetic model. Besides, LiCl–CN photocatalyst exhibited excellent photostability and recyclability for BPA photolysis. Mechanistic study revealed that both superoxide radicals (·O2-) and photogenerated holes (h+) were the dominant activated species for the degradation of BPA by LiCl–CN. The findings of this work further open an avenue for the application of g-C3N4 based ceramics materials for organic pollutant removal from wastewater.