Facile Fabrication of Novel S‐scheme Ag₃PO₄/g‐C₃N₄/Zeolite Photocatalyst for Boosting Photocatalytic Tetracycline Degradation and Hydrogen Production

Abstract

This study presents a novel ternary Ag3PO4/g‐C3N4/zeolite composite for photocatalytic H2 production and TC degradation through S‐scheme electron transport. The S‐scheme Ag3PO4/g‐C3N4 heterojunction was successfully constructed on zeolite surface through calcination and precipitation processes. The results indicated that Ag3PO4/g‐C3N4/zeolite‐50% presented dramatically enhanced photocatalytic TC degradation performance, and the TC degradation efficiency was up to 92.86% in 180 min under visible light. The corresponding reaction rate constant was 0.01205 min‐1 which was 2.18 and 7.48 times greater than those of pure Ag3PO4 (0.00554 min‐1) and g‐C3N4 (0.00161 min‐1), respectively. Meanwhile, the highest H2 production rate (2748.6 µmol•g‐1•h‐1) was achieved over Ag3PO4/g‐C3N4/zeolite‐50% under simulated solar light which was around 26.5 and 5.6 times higher than that of g‐C3N4 and Ag3PO4, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the ternary composite was mainly due to the synergistic effect of S‐scheme Ag3PO4/g‐C3N4 heterojunction and zeolite support which endowed the composite with excellent adsorption activity, enhanced light response ability, and efficient separation of photoinduced carriers. TC degradation mechanism and pathways were proposed based on quenching experiment and HPLC‐MS results. Overall, this study proposes a promising strategy for significantly improving photocatalytic activity and applying in photocatalytic pollutant degradation and hydrogen production.