Reinforced ROS Generation and Anti‐Photocorrosion for Boosted Photooxidation Disinfection by IEF‐Enhanced Type II Charge Carrier Dynamics
2025
Junlei Zhang | Guojia Yu | Chaoyang Yang | Wei Zhao | Zhiyao Duan | Hai Liu | Shijie Li
ABSTRACT The internal electric field (IEF) is key in speeding up the separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers, which boosts the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we present a novel silver iodide/N‐rich carbon nitride (AgI/C3N5) heterojunction catalyst with an IEF directed from AgI to C3N5. We confirmed this IEF using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and various characterization methods. This IEF induces and reinforces the Type II transfer pathway for carrier separation and transfer, significantly increasing the production of ROS, particularly singlet oxygen (1O2). As a result, the AgI/C3N5 catalysts achieve 10.1 times the disinfection efficiency of C3N5 and 5.6 times that of AgI, under one‐min reaction time, 107 CFU/mL of E. coli, visible light, and room temperature. It also outperforms most other AgI and carbon nitride‐based heterojunction photocatalysts. Notably, the photogenerated holes (h+) selectively oxidize superoxide radicals (∙O2−) to 1O2 due to favorable energy alignment, minimizing O2 reduction effects and enhancing photocorrosion resistance, as demonstrated in five consecutive cycling experiments. In addition, the actual water disinfection tests confirmed its practical application potential. This work highlights the AgI/C3N5 heterojunction catalyst's promise as an efficient disinfection agent and sheds light on the photocatalytic disinfection mechanism.
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