Improving Photocatalytic Activity for Formaldehyde Degradation by Encapsulating C[sub.60] Fullerenes into Graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4] through the Enhancement of Built-in Electric Fields

The photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde by graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4] is one of the most attractive and environmentally friendly strategies to address the significant threat to human health posed by indoor air pollutants. Despite its potential, this degradation process still faces issues with suboptimal efficiency, which may be attributed to the rapid recombination of photogenerated excitons and the broad band gap. As a proof of concept, a series of graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4]@C[sub.60] composites combining graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4] and C[sub.60] was developed via an in situ generation strategy. The obtained graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4]@C[sub.60] composites exhibited a remarkable increase in the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of formaldehyde, of up to 99%, under visible light irradiation, outperforming pure graphite-like C[sub.3]N[sub.4] and C[sub.60]. This may be due to the composites’ enhanced built-in electric field. Additionally, the proposed composites maintained a formaldehyde removal efficiency of 84% even after six cycles, highlighting their potential for indoor air purification and paving the way for the development of efficient photocatalysts.