Enhanced nitrate reduction by metal deposited g-C3N4/rGO/TiO2 Z-schematic photocatalysts: Performance and mechanism comparison of Pd-Cu and Ag

Deposition of bimetals on Z-scheme photocatalysts has been reported to improve the nitrate nitrogen (NO3−) reduction properties. However, it is not clear whether bimetal deposition possesses advantage over single metal deposition and what is the different reaction mechanisms. In this work, the g-C3N4(Pd-Cu)/rGO/TiO2 and g-C3N4(Ag)/rGO/TiO2 composites with bimetallic Pd-Cu and single metal Ag deposited on the graphitic carbon nitride/reduced graphene oxide/titanium dioxide (g-C3N4/rGO/TiO2) Z-scheme photocatalyst were prepared, and their photocatalytic NO3− reduction properties and the mechanisms under visible light irradiation were studied. The results showed that the NO3− and total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies of g-C3N4(Pd-Cu)/rGO/TiO2 were 57.78% and 20.1%, respectively, 1.15 and 1.72 times higher than those of g-C3N4(Ag)/rGO/TiO2. This can be ascribed to that Pd-Cu enriched more electrons and absorbed more NO3− molecules due to the different charge densities, and the NO3− reduction process were enhanced by the staged NO3−→NO2− and NO2−→N2/NH4+ processes on Cu and Pd. The effects of reductive species were demonstrated to be photogenerated electrons > ·OH (·CO2−) > ·O2− in g-C3N4(Ag)/rGO/TiO2, while it was photogenerated electrons > ·O2− > ·OH (·CO2−) in g-C3N4(Pd-Cu)/rGO/TiO2, which may be caused by the better O2 reduction property of the latter. Finally, the cyclic experiment proved the good stability of both materials. This work provided some reference for design of metal deposited Z-scheme photocatalysts for various reduction reactions. [Display omitted] •The g-C3N4(Cu-Pd)/rGO/TiO2 and g-C3N4(Ag)/rGO/TiO2 composites were prepared.•The NO3− reduction performances and mechanisms were studied and compared.•The reductive species in g-C3N4(Ag)/rGO/TiO2 were e– > ·OH (·CO2−) > ·O2−.•The reductive species in g-C3N4(Cu-Pd)/rGO/TiO2 were e– > ·O2− > ·OH (·CO2−).