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Visible-light-driven heterostructured g-C3N4/Bi-TiO2 floating photocatalyst with enhanced charge carrier separation for photocatalytic inactivation of Microcystis aeruginosa

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Abstract

The increase in occurrence and severity of cyanobacteria blooms is causing increasing concern; moreover, human and animal health is affected by the toxic effects of Microcystin-LR released into the water. In this paper, a floating photocatalyst for the photocatalytic inactivation of the harmful algae Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) was prepared using a simple sol-gel method, i.e., coating g-C3N4 coupled with Bi-doped TiO2 on Al2O3-modified expanded perlite (CBTA for short). The impact of different molar ratios of Bi/Ti on CBTA was considered. The results indicated that Bi doping in TiO2 inhibited photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination. With 6 h of visible light illumination, 75.9% of M. aeruginosa (initial concentration = 2.7 × 106 cells/L) and 83.7% of Microcystin-LR (initial concentration =100 µg/L) could be removed with the addition of 2 g/L CBTA-1% (i.e., Bi/Ti molar ratio = 1%). The key reactive oxygen species (ROSs) in the photocatalytic inactivation process are h+ and ⦁OH. The induction of the Bi4+/Bi3+ species by the incorporation of Bi could narrow the bandgap of TiO2, trap electrons, and enhance the stability of CBTA-1% in the solutions with coexisting environmental substances.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of this research by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22008057 and 51909165). This work was financially supported by the PhD. Scientific Research Starting Foundation of Henan Normal University (No. 5101219170135) and Postdoctoral Research Foundation of Henan Normal University (No. 5101219470222).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control (Ministry of Education), Henan Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Jingke Song, Chenyang Li, Songsong Zhi & Jianhui Sun

  2. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Xuejiang Wang

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Efficient Green Energy and Environment Protection Materials, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Xin Wang

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  1. Jingke Song
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  2. Chenyang Li
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  3. Xuejiang Wang
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  4. Songsong Zhi
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  5. Xin Wang
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  6. Jianhui Sun
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Correspondence to Xuejiang Wang.

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Highlights

• Bi doping in TiO2 enhanced the separation of photo-generated electron-hole.

• The performance of photocatalytic degradation of MC-LR was improved.

• Coexisting substances have no influence on algal removal performance.

• The key reactive oxygen species were h+ and ⦁OH in the photocatalytic process.

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Song, J., Li, C., Wang, X. et al. Visible-light-driven heterostructured g-C3N4/Bi-TiO2 floating photocatalyst with enhanced charge carrier separation for photocatalytic inactivation of Microcystis aeruginosa. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 129 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1417-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1417-3

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