Designing
a heterojunction that can effectively degrade pollutants
under different reaction conditions remains a challenge and question.
Herein, an S-scheme model of oxygen-vacancies-defected tin dioxide
nanoparticles and graphitic carbon nitride (SnO2–x
/g-C3N4) is fabricated. This
is also the first study activating photocatalysts by potassium peroxymonosulfate
(PMS) for degrading rhodamine B (RhB) dye. Empirical evidence, including
X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), show the presence
and a combination of SnO2–x
nanoparticles
and g-C3N4 nanosheets. Optical, electrochemical
analysis, and trapping experiments reveal the contribution of different
charge states of oxygen vacancies, a visible light responsibility
of 3.2 eV, and an S-scheme charge transfer to the strengthened photocatalytic
performance of SnO2–x
/g-C3N4. Besides, an S-scheme is accelerated to higher performance
from 20% to 99.8% RhB 20 mg L–1 degradation via
activating PMS in solution. This design and activation may promise
applications in efficient water treatment.