WSe2/g-C3N4 for an In Situ Photocatalytic Fenton-like System in Phenol Degradation

An in situ photo-Fenton system can continuously generate H2O2 by photocatalysis, activating H2O2 in situ to form strong oxidizing center dot OH radicals and degrading organic pollutants. A WSe2/g-C3N4 composite catalyst with WSe2 as a co-catalyst was successfully synthesized in this work and used for in situ photo-Fenton oxidation. The WSe2/g-C3N4 composite with 7% loading of WSe2 (CNW2) has H2O2 production of 35.04 mu mol/L, which is fourteen times higher than pure g-C3N4. The degradation efficiency of CNW2 for phenol reached 67%. By constructing an in situ Fenton-system, the phenol degradation rate could be further enhanced to 90%. WSe2 can enhance the catalytic activity of CNW2 by increasing electron mobility and inhibiting the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the addition of Fe2+ activates the generated H2O2, thus increasing the amount of strong oxidative center dot OH radicals for the degradation of phenol. Overall, CNW2 is a promising novel material with a high H2O2 yield and can directly degrade organic pollutants using an in situ photo-Fenton reaction.