Synergistic effect of carbon-deficient and Rh2O3-decorated on carbon nitride: Robust photocatalyst for bisphenol a degradation and the mechanism insight

The sluggish charge transfer and fast recombination of charge carriers is a determining factor limiting photo-catalytic efficiency of carbon nitride. Herein, carbon vacancies and Rh2O3 nanoparticles were sequentially introduced into CN to accelerate photo-generated electron and hole transfer simultaneously, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance of CN to achieve the complete removal of Bisphenol A (BPA) in 15 min. Mechanism analyses reveal that the modification of the carbon vacancies regulates the active charge carriers, excitons and trap states, thus enhances the carrier separation capabilities and light absorption. Meanwhile, the in situ photodeposited Rh2O3 nanoparticles, as a hole-transfer mediator, maximally suppress recombination of photogenerated charges. These synergistic effects result in promoting the separation and transfer of charge carriers and thus improving photocatalytic performances. This strategy can serve as guideline for the reasonable design of efficient photocatalysts for phenolic wastewater remediation.