Semiconductor photocatalysis is a promising technology to tackle refractory antibiotics contamination in water. Herein, a facile in situ growth strategy is developed to implant single‐atom cobalt in polymeric carbon nitride (pCN) via the bidentate ligand for efficient photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline (OTC). The atomic characterizations indicate that single‐atom cobalt is successfully anchored on pCN by covalently forming the CoO bond and CoN bond, which will strengthen the interaction between single‐atom cobalt and pCN. This single‐atom cobalt can efficiently expand optical absorption, increase electron density, facilitate charge separation and transfer, and promote OTC degradation. As the optimal sample, Co(1.28%)pCN presents an outstanding apparent rate constant for OTC degradation (0.038 min−1) under visible light irradiation, which is about 3.7 times than that of the pristine pCN. The electron spin resonance (ESR) tests and reactive species trapping experiments demonstrate that the 1O2, h+, •O2−, and •OH are responsible for OTC degradation. This work develops a new way to construct single‐atom‐modified pCN and provides a green and highly efficient strategy for refractory antibiotics removal.
Plastic products, used in almost all aspects of daily life because of their low cost, durability, and portability, could be broken down into micro- and nano-scale plastics, thereby increasing the...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.