Emerging investigators series: advances and challenges of graphitic carbon nitride as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for sustainable water purification

Zheng, Qinmin; Shen, Hongchen; Shuai, Danmeng

doi:10.1039/c7ew00159b

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 220 publications

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“…g-C 3 N 4 did not show noticeable inhibition on biofilm development in the dark, which suggests the photocatalyst is biocompatible with limited toxicity, as shown in previous studies. 27,50,51 Excellent biocompatibility enables the photocatalyst to find broad biomedical, food, and environmental applications. For the biofilms cultured under continuous white LED light exposure, however, no obvious biofilms could be observed by OCT (Figure 1b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst, g-C 3 N 4 has several unique merits that promote its broad-spectrum engineering applications, such as the use of renewable or waste energy sources for promoting sustainable societal development, low cost in material fabrication, scalable material production, high thermal and chemical stability, and excellent biocompatibility. 27 For instance, g-C 3 N 4 powder could be potentially incorporated into paint and packages and the resulting antimicrobial products can produce self-cleaning surfaces for healthcare, food, and many other industrial and household applications. g-C 3 N 4 can also be used for inactivating airborne and waterborne pathogens for environmental remediation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalyst of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Pathogenic Biofilm Control

Shen

López-Guerra

Zhu

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Pathogenic biofilms raise significant health and economic concerns, because these bacteria are persistent and can lead to long-term infections in vivo and surface contamination in healthcare and industrial facilities or devices. Compared with conventional antimicrobial strategies, photocatalysis holds promise for biofilm control because of its broad-spectrum effectiveness under ambient conditions, low cost, easy operation, and reduced maintenance. In this study, we investigated the performance and mechanism of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm control and eradication on the surface of an innovative photocatalyst, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), under visible-light irradiation, which overcame the need for ultraviolet light for many current photocatalysts (e.g., titanium dioxide (TiO 2 )). Optical coherence tomography and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) suggested that g-C 3 N 4 coupons inhibited biofilm development and eradicated mature biofilms under the irradiation of white light-emitting diodes. Biofilm inactivation was observed occurring from the surface toward the center of the biofilms, suggesting that the diffusion of reactive species into the biofilms played a key role. By taking advantage of scanning electron microscopy, CLSM, and atomic force microscopy for biofilm morphology, composition, and mechanical property characterization, we demonstrated that photocatalysis destroyed the integrated and cohesive structure of biofilms and facilitated biofilm eradication by removing the extracellular polymeric substances. Moreover, reactive oxygen species generated during g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysis were quantified via reactions with radical probes and 1 O 2 was believed to be responsible for biofilm control and removal. Our work highlights the promise of using g-C 3 N 4 for a broad range of antimicrobial applications, especially for the eradication of persistent biofilms under visible-light irradiation, including photodynamic therapy, environmental remediation, food-industry applications, and self-cleaning surface development.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalyst of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Pathogenic Biofilm Control

Shen

López-Guerra

Zhu

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…[105][106][107] Thinfilm nanofiber membranes have been developed for various water treatment processes. [105][106][107] Thinfilm nanofiber membranes have been developed for various water treatment processes.…”

Section: Water Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Worldwide water pollution and scarcity of clean drinking water have led to a strong need for the development of energy‐savings and cost‐efficient water purification technologies . Thin‐film nanofiber membranes have been developed for various water treatment processes.…”

Section: Applications For Mof Nanofibersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrospinning of Metal–Organic Frameworks for Energy and Environmental Applications

2019

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organic linkers with a periodic, nanoscaled structure and ultrahigh surface areas. With their tunable pore/cage sizes, flexible skeleton, and large surface-to-volume ratio, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] MOFs have a large potential for a wide range of applications, including gas storage and separation, rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, solar cells, nanoreactors, heterogeneous catalysis, or drug delivery. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Recently, significant efforts have been devoted to the design and synthesis of new MOFs structures and the investigation of their physical or chemical properties. MOFs are generally prepared as bulk form through traditional hydrothermal or solvothermal synthesis. [28][29][30][31] In order to expand the application range, suitable pathways for the structuring of MOF powders into a functional architecture or devices are highly desirable.Currently, intensive efforts are focusing on the structuring of MOFs at the mesoscopic/macroscopic scale for the use as coatings, membranes, or sophisticated architectures in specific devices and applications. [32][33][34][35] A major difference in the structuring of MOFs into complex shapes compared to inorganic microporous materials, such as zeolites or silica, is the fact that most inorganic binders cannot be used for MOFs as these binders usually require heat treatment. The intrinsic fragility of MOFs needs to be considered which is related to the inorganic/organic hybrid character of this class of materials and the resulting limited thermal and mechanical stability. Alternatively, a more effective way to structure MOFs is the combination with polymer materials. The polymer which acts as a binder improves the mechanical flexibility and ensures chemical stability. Numerous methods have been developed for structuring MOF-polymer compositions including hard or soft templates, spin-or dip-coating, spray-drying, printing, or lithography approaches. [36][37][38] The integration of MOFs into a polymer matrix can result in poor MOF-polymer dispersion and compatibility issues owing to the different physical and chemical properties for the two kinds of materials and this is a challenge in some applications, e.g., in MOF-based mixed matrix membranes for gas separation. [39][40][41][42] The poor interfacial compatibility would lead to agglomeration of MOF particles, causing the formation of nonselective voids between the MOFs particles and the polymer.Electrospinning is a fabrication method to produce continuous ultrafine fibers with diameters in the range of a few tens of nanometers to a few micrometers in the form of nonwoven mats, yarns, etc. The mechanism of electrospinning is based Herein, recent developments of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) structured into nanofibers by electrospinning are summarized, including the fabrication, post-treatment via pyrolysis, properties, and use of the resulting MOF nanofiber architectures. The fabrication and post-treatment of the MOF nanofiber architectures are described systematically by two routes: i) the dire...

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“…Some inorganic substances can kill bacteria and viruses by destroying their cell membranes and the protein content, respectively, or decompose organic pollutants to produce nonpolluted water and carbon dioxide. Owing to their merits, photocatalysts are widely used in various fields, such as air purification, 8,9 water purification, 10 N 2 fixation, [11][12][13] CO 2 reduction 14,15 and hydrogen production. [16][17][18] Thus, there has been extensive research interest in photocatalytic technologies to provide insights for advancements in the field of energy and the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Z‐scheme semiconductor photocatalysts for the photoelectrochemical applications: A review

et al. 2022

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Emerging investigators series: advances and challenges of graphitic carbon nitride as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for sustainable water purification

Abstract: Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a promising visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for sustainable water purification.

Cited by 22 publications

References 220 publications

Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalyst of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Pathogenic Biofilm Control

Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalyst of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Pathogenic Biofilm Control

Electrospinning of Metal–Organic Frameworks for Energy and Environmental Applications

Advances in Z‐scheme semiconductor photocatalysts for the photoelectrochemical applications: A review

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