Novel defect-transit dual Z-scheme heterojunction: Sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes loaded with bismuth oxide and bismuth sulfide for efficient photocatalytic amine oxidation.

ABSTRACT

The rational design of Z-scheme heterojunction hybrid photocatalysts is considered a promising way to achieve high photocatalytic activity. In this study, a dual Z-scheme heterojunction with bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanorods and bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanoparticles anchored Sulfur-doped carbon nitride (S-CN) nanotubes (Bi2S3/S-CN/Bi2O3) is designed and fabricated through the ordinal metal ion adsorption, pyrolysis, and sulfidation processes using supramolecular rods as precursor. Compared with pristine Bi2S3, Bi2O3, and CN, the dual Z-scheme tube-shaped Bi2S3/S-CN/Bi2O3 catalyst exhibited a significantly improved photocatalytic activity in amine oxidation. The optimized Bi2S3/S-CN/Bi2O3 nanostructure exhibits a 97.6 % benzylamine conversion and 99.4 % imine selectivity within 4 h under simulated solar light irradiation. The excellent activity of Bi2S3/S-CN/Bi2O3 nanotubes can be attributed to the characteristic hollow defect band structure and efficient charge separation and transfer achieved by the dual Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism, which was systematically studied using electron spin resonance spectroscopy, Kelvin probe force microscope, and other techniques. The optimized dual Z-scheme heterojunction hybrid photocatalyst maintains the high oxidizing ability of Bi2S3 and Bi2O3 and the excellent reducing ability of CN, thereby significantly enhancing the photocatalytic activity. This research provides a facile and feasible synthesis strategy for designing dual Z-scheme heterojunctions with defect band structure to improve the photocatalytic activity.