Sugarcane Juice Derived Carbon Dot-graphitic Carbon Nitride Composites for Bisphenol A Degradation Under Sunlight Irradiation

Overview

Journal Beilstein J Nanotechnol

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2018 Mar 9

PMID 29515949

Citations 8

Authors

Lan Ching Sim

Jing Lin Wong

Chen Hong Hak

Jun Yan Tai

Kah Hon Leong

Pichiah Saravanan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) and graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) composites (CD/g-CN) were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method using urea and sugarcane juice as starting materials. The chemical composition, morphological structure and optical properties of the composites and CDs were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques as well as transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed new signals for carbonyl and carboxyl groups originating from the CDs in CD/g-CN composites while X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed distortion of the host matrix after incorporating CDs into g-CN. Both analyses signified the interaction between g-CN and CDs. The photoluminescence (PL) analysis indicated that the presence of too many CDs will create trap states at the CD/g-CN interface, decelerating the electron (e) transport. However, the CD/g-CN(0.5) composite with the highest coverage of CDs still achieved the best bisphenol A (BPA) degradation rate at 3.87 times higher than that of g-CN. Hence, the charge separation efficiency should not be one of the main factors responsible for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of CD/g-CN. Instead, the light absorption capability was the dominant factor since the photoreactivity correlated well with the ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) results. Although the CDs did not display upconversion photoluminescence (UCPL) properties, the π-conjugated CDs served as a photosensitizer (like organic dyes) to sensitize g-CN and injected electrons to the conduction band (CB) of g-CN, resulting in the extended absorption spectrum from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR) region. This extended spectral absorption allows for the generation of more electrons for the enhancement of BPA degradation. It was determined that the reactive radical species responsible for the photocatalytic activity were the superoxide anion radical (O) and holes (h) after performing multiple scavenging tests.

Citing Articles

From cane to nano: advanced nanomaterials derived from sugarcane products with insights into their synthesis and applications.

Mod B, Baskar A, Bahadur R, Tavakkoli E, Van Zwieten L, Singh G Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2024; 25(1):2393568.

PMID: 39238510 PMC: 11376298. DOI: 10.1080/14686996.2024.2393568.

Potential Efficacy of Herbal Medicine-Derived Carbon Dots in the Treatment of Diseases: From Mechanism to Clinic.

Zeng M, Wang Y, Liu M, Wei Y, Wen J, Zhang Y Int J Nanomedicine. 2023; 18:6503-6525.

PMID: 37965279 PMC: 10642355. DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S431061.

g-CN-dots as fluorescence probes prepared by an alkali-assisted hydrothermal method for cell imaging.

Zeng X, Hou M, Zhu P, Yuan M, Ouyang S, Lu Q RSC Adv. 2022; 12(41):26476-26484.

PMID: 36275159 PMC: 9478806. DOI: 10.1039/d2ra03934f.

Aqueous solution photocatalytic synthesis of -anisaldehyde by using graphite-like carbon nitride photocatalysts obtained the hard-templating route.

Fernandes R, Sampaio M, Faria J, Silva C RSC Adv. 2022; 10(33):19431-19442.

PMID: 35515447 PMC: 9054040. DOI: 10.1039/d0ra02746d.

Novel Carbon Quantum Dots/Silver Blended Polysulfone Membrane with Improved Properties and Enhanced Performance in Tartrazine Dye Removal.

Gan J, Chong W, Sim L, Koo C, Pang Y, Mahmoudi E Membranes (Basel). 2020; 10(8).

PMID: 32756315 PMC: 7465473. DOI: 10.3390/membranes10080175.

References

Briscoe J, Marinovic A, Sevilla M, Dunn S, Titirici M . Biomass-derived carbon quantum dot sensitizers for solid-state nanostructured solar cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015; 54(15):4463-8. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201409290. View

Bozetine H, Wang Q, Barras A, Li M, Hadjersi T, Szunerits S . Green chemistry approach for the synthesis of ZnO-carbon dots nanocomposites with good photocatalytic properties under visible light. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2015; 465:286-94. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.12.001. View

Wen X, Yu P, Toh Y, Ma X, Tang J . On the upconversion fluorescence in carbon nanodots and graphene quantum dots. Chem Commun (Camb). 2014; 50(36):4703-6. DOI: 10.1039/c4cc01213e. View

Cao L, Meziani M, Sahu S, Sun Y . Photoluminescence properties of graphene versus other carbon nanomaterials. Acc Chem Res. 2012; 46(1):171-80. DOI: 10.1021/ar300128j. View

Sahu S, Behera B, Maiti T, Mohapatra S . Simple one-step synthesis of highly luminescent carbon dots from orange juice: application as excellent bio-imaging agents. Chem Commun (Camb). 2012; 48(70):8835-7. DOI: 10.1039/c2cc33796g. View

Maloney F, Poudyal U, Chen W, Wang W . Influence of Quantum Dot Concentration on Carrier Transport in ZnO:TiO₂ Nano-Hybrid Photoanodes for Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells. Nanomaterials (Basel). 2017; 6(11). PMC: 5245735. DOI: 10.3390/nano6110191. View

Bandi R, Dadigala R, Gangapuram B, Guttena V . Green synthesis of highly fluorescent nitrogen - Doped carbon dots from Lantana camara berries for effective detection of lead(II) and bioimaging. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2017; 178:330-338. DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2017.11.010. View

Wang S, Lin J, Wang X . Semiconductor-redox catalysis promoted by metal-organic frameworks for CO2 reduction. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2014; 16(28):14656-60. DOI: 10.1039/c4cp02173h. View

Wang X, Cao L, Lu F, Meziani M, Li H, Qi G . Photoinduced electron transfers with carbon dots. Chem Commun (Camb). 2009; (25):3774-6. PMC: 2767382. DOI: 10.1039/b906252a. View

10.

Ming H, Ma Z, Liu Y, Pan K, Yu H, Wang F . Large scale electrochemical synthesis of high quality carbon nanodots and their photocatalytic property. Dalton Trans. 2012; 41(31):9526-31. DOI: 10.1039/c2dt30985h. View

11.

Cao S, Low J, Yu J, Jaroniec M . Polymeric photocatalysts based on graphitic carbon nitride. Adv Mater. 2015; 27(13):2150-76. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201500033. View

12.

Wang F, Chen Y, Liu C, Ma D . White light-emitting devices based on carbon dots' electroluminescence. Chem Commun (Camb). 2011; 47(12):3502-4. DOI: 10.1039/c0cc05391k. View

13.

Miao X, Ji Z, Wu J, Shen X, Wang J, Kong L . g-CN/AgBr nanocomposite decorated with carbon dots as a highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2017; 502:24-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.04.087. View

14.

Sim L, Tan W, Leong K, Bashir M, Saravanan P, Surib N . Mechanistic Characteristics of Surface Modified Organic Semiconductor g-C₃N₄ Nanotubes Alloyed with Titania. Materials (Basel). 2017; 10(1). PMC: 5344601. DOI: 10.3390/ma10010028. View

15.

Xia X, Deng N, Cui G, Xie J, Shi X, Zhao Y . NIR light induced H2 evolution by a metal-free photocatalyst. Chem Commun (Camb). 2015; 51(54):10899-902. DOI: 10.1039/c5cc02589c. View

16.

Zhu C, Zhai J, Dong S . Bifunctional fluorescent carbon nanodots: green synthesis via soy milk and application as metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction. Chem Commun (Camb). 2012; 48(75):9367-9. DOI: 10.1039/c2cc33844k. View

17.

Wang S, Wang X . Multifunctional Metal-Organic Frameworks for Photocatalysis. Small. 2015; 11(26):3097-112. DOI: 10.1002/smll.201500084. View

18.

Yang S, Gong Y, Zhang J, Zhan L, Ma L, Fang Z . Exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets as efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution under visible light. Adv Mater. 2013; 25(17):2452-6. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201204453. View

19.

Ong W, Tan L, Ng Y, Yong S, Chai S . Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4)-Based Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis and Environmental Remediation: Are We a Step Closer To Achieving Sustainability?. Chem Rev. 2016; 116(12):7159-329. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00075. View

20.

Tang L, Ji R, Cao X, Lin J, Jiang H, Li X . Deep ultraviolet photoluminescence of water-soluble self-passivated graphene quantum dots. ACS Nano. 2012; 6(6):5102-10. DOI: 10.1021/nn300760g. View