Development of Ti3c2 Mxene/Supramolecular G-C3n4 Schottky Junction with Improved Performance For Photocatalytic Arbidol Hydrochloride Degradation And H2o2 Production

Contamination caused by drugs and energy crisis have attracted the researchers’ increasing attention. Developing an appropriate photocatalyst is a promising method for water treatment and solar energy conversion. Here, we prepared a novel photocatalyst composed of Ti3C2 MXene and supramolecular g-C3N4 (TiC/SCN) via a simple method for arbidol hydrochloride (ABLH, an effective drug against COVID-19) degradation and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production. The 0.5TiC/SCN (containing 0.5% of TiC) exhibited improved ability for ABLH removal; 99% of ABLH was removed within 150 min under visible light illumination, which was about 2.65 times that of SCN. To our best knowledge, it was not detected in sewage treatment plant sediments until the COVID-19 outbreak, and there has been no report on the degradation of ABLH. The influences of pH, ion type, and concentration on photocatalytic degradation of ABLH were investigated. The pH had the greatest impact on ABLH degradation; ABLH was hydrolyzed under alkaline conditions. Meanwhile, ABLH degradation pathways and the toxicities of the corresponding by-products were also studied. The by-products toxicities were lower than that of ABLH. In addition, the improved efficiency of 0.5TiC/SCN for H2O2 production (577.0 μmol g-1h-1) was about 2.69 times that of SCN. Moreover, the corresponding 0.5TiC/SCN mechanism for H2O2 production was studied. The two-step single-electron reduction of O2 was the main mechanism for H2O2 production by 0.5TiC/SCN. These findings provide a valuable reference for the design of photocatalysts for water treatment and solar energy conversion.