Ti3C2 MXene-induced interface charge transferred in Z-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic removal of nitric oxide

Currently, NO pollution is an urgent challenge for us to face, and photocatalytic degradation has been recognized as one of the most promising methods to reduce it. As a representative photocatalyst, g-C3N4 has attracted researchers because of its low cost and excellent performance. In this work, a new triphasic Z -scheme heterostructure was built, TiO2/Ti3C2 MXene/g-C3N4, to improve the visible-light irradiation -in-duced NO removal efficiency of g-C3N4. In this Z-scheme heterostructure, Ti3C2 MXene could form a di-rectional electron transfer thoroughfare between g-C3N4 and TiO2 to accelerate the electronic transmission rate, meanwhile, due to the specificity of the band structure, electrons on conduction band of g-C3N4 and holes on valence band of TiO2 can be well separated and react with the adsorbed species to achieve good photocatalytic performance. Because of the triphasic heterostructure formed by TiO2, Ti3C2 MXene and g-C3N4, the efficiency of this compound for visible-light irradiation-induced NO removal improves from 32% to 56%. This work provides a new strategy to improve NO removal efficiency and shows a broader appli-cation prospect of photocatalysts with a triphasic structure.& COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V.