Recyclable Visible Light-Driven O-g-C₃N₄/Graphene Oxide/N-Carbon Nanotube Membrane for Efficient Removal of Organic Pollutants

Abstract

Organic pollutants are harmful to human health, which creates a global need for the development of novel and effective materials for efficiently removing contaminants. Accordingly, an efficient visible light-driven heterostructured membrane combined with oxygen-modified monolayer g-C3N4, graphene oxide, and nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (O-g-C3N4/GO/N-CNT) was successfully fabricated through electrostatic interactions and subsequent vacuum filtration. The results suggested that the O-g-C3N4/GO/N-CNT membrane exhibited higher degradation rate than those of O-g-C3N4/GO and pure O-g-C3N4 under visible light exposure. This enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the introduction of GO and N-CNT, which acted as electronic acceptors for monolayer O-g-C3N4 that effectively inhibited recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, thus enhancing visible light photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the enrichment and degradation rates of O-g-C3N4/GO/N-CNT membranes were demonstrated for tetracycline hydrochloride, which were found to be 96.64 and 94.30%, respectively, and no distinct enrichment or catalytic activity reduction was observed when their reusability was measured. These results suggested that these recyclable O-g-C3N4/GO/N-CNT membranes provide a new strategy for the highly efficient removal of environmental pollutants.