Improved photocatalytic activities of recyclable porous Fe2O3 nanotubes by modifying with nano-sized SiO2 and g-C3N4 for degrading 2-chlorophenol

•High-activity porous α-Fe2O3 nanotubes are synthesized by a phase separation electrospinning process.•The photoactivity is further improved by introducing SiO2 and then coupling g-C3N4 with good recyclability.•Improved photoactivity is attributed to increased surface area and promoted Z-scheme charge transfer.•Optimized nanotubes exhibit ~ 4-time activity improvement compared with the reported nanoparticles. It is highly desired to fabricate efficient α-Fe2O3-based photocatalysts with recyclable feature for pollutants degradation. Herein, porous α-Fe2O3 nanotubes with high photocatalytic activity for degrading 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) have been successfully synthesized by a phase separation electrospinning process, with a pipe diameter of about 200 nm . The photoactivity is greatly improved by in-situ introducing SiO2, attributed to the increased surface area by decreasing the size of nanoparticles shell from ~ 30 to 15 nm. Furthermore, the photoactivity of SiO2 modified α-Fe2O3 is further improved by coupling with porous g-C3N4 nanosheets, ascribed to the promoted charge separation by the newly accepted S-scheme charge transfer mainly based on the EPR tests and photocurrent action spectra. Interestingly, the optimized α-Fe2O3-based nanotubes exhibit ~ 4-time improvement of the kinetic rate constant in 2-CP degradation compared with the reported α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles, with good recyclability by self-sediment. [Display omitted]