On the enhanced photocatalytic activity of N-doped carbon dots
Year: 2025
Authors: Gonzalez HDA., Porras GRG., Vezin H., Alvarez LM., Valdes ALC., Martinez LJB., Dnaz-Garcna AM., Gonzblez-Martnnez D., Moran-Mirabal JM., Murru C., Deschamps J., Iriarte-Mesa C., Jiang QX., Kleitz F., Desdin-Garcia LF., Antuch M.
Autors Affiliation: Univ La Habana, Inst Super Tecnol & Ciencias Aplicadas InSTEC, Havana 10600, Cuba; Univ La Habana, Fac Quim, Dept Quim Gen Inorgan, Lab Bioinorgan, Havana 10400, Cuba; Univ Lille, CNRS, UMR 8518, LASIRe, F-59000 Lille, France; Ctr Aplicac Tecnol & Desarrollo Nucl CEADEN, Havana 11300, Cuba; Ctr Estudios Avanzados Cuba, Havana, Cuba; McMaster Univ, Dept Chem & Chem Biol, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada; McMaster Univ, Brockhouse Inst Mat Res, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada; Natl Inst Opt, Natl Res Council INO CNR, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Ecole Natl Super Tech Avancees ENSTA, Inst Polytech Paris, Unite Chim & Procedes UCP, 828 Blvd Marechaux, F-91120 Palaiseau, France; Univ Vienna, Fac Chem, Dept Funct Mat & Catalysis, Wahringer Str 42, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Univ Vienna, Vienna Doctoral Sch Chem DosChem, Wahringer Str 42, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Univ Vienna, Inst Mat Chem & Res, Fac Chem, Wahringer Str 42, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Univ Lille, Univ Artois, UMR 8181, UCCS,CNRS,Cent Lille ,Unite Catalyse & Chim Solid, F-59000 Lille, France.
Abstract: Carbon nanostructures (dots) have emerged as a novel and sustainable alternative for the photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants. This work presents the synthesis of multidoped carbon nanomaterials (CNs) using a microwave-assisted method. Overall, four types of carbon nanostructures were obtained: (i) nitrogen-doped CNs (N-CDs), (ii) nitrogen and sulfur co-doped CNs (N,S-CNs), (iii) nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped CNs (N,P-CNs), and (iv) nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus multi-doped CNs (N,S,P-CNs). The characterization of these nanoparticles was performed via Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), enabling the identification of stretching modes corresponding to C 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000 O, C-N, and N-H functional groups. Additionally, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies allowed the detection of n-pi* and pi-pi* absorption bands at similar to 325 and 400 nm, along with light emission at 438 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization confirmed structural and morphological differences between the nanomaterials, which exhibited sizes ranging from 1 to 100 nm, depending on the chemical composition of the starting precursors. Finally, the photocatalytic activity of the CNs towards the degradation of toluidine blue was assessed, considering the effects of morphology, composition, and both catalyst and dye concentration on photodegradation. Such a catalytic process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, where N-CDs exhibited the highest potential for toluidine blue degradation. Our results highlight that the photocatalytic activity of carbon nanomaterials is a multifactorial process essentially driven by the formation of OH radicals, where doping and particle morphology also play a combined role in photocatalysis. This work opens a route for understanding the chemical composition and structure of photocatalytic nanocarbons and their application to the degradation of organic pollutants in water, thus offering a sustainable alternative for wastewater treatment.
Journal/Review: CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume: 15 (16) Pages from: 4713 to: 4726
More Information: D. G. M. was partially supported through an Ontario Graduate Scholarship and an NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. J. M. M.-M. is the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Micro and Nanostructured Materials. The research presented was partially supported by funding through a Discovery Grant from NSERC to J. M. M.-M. (RGPIN-2019-06433). This research made use of equipment within the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM) at McMaster University. C. I.-M., Q. J., and F. K. would like to thank the University of Vienna (Austria) for the financial support. M. A. is thankful to Centrale Lille Institut, to the Unite de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide, and to the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, grant ANR-23-CPJ1-0019-01, for financial support. Graphical elements included in the manuscript were created with https://BioRender.com.KeyWords: Toluidine Blue; Nitrogen; Sulfur; Graphene; Green; Degradation; Mechanism; Water; OxideDOI: 10.1039/d5cy00457h
