Carbon-enhanced photocatalysts with dopamine electronic bridge enriched in adjustable adsorption and visible-light degradation for multitasking water remediation

The integrated strategy using coupling photocatalysis and adsorption to treat liquid waste has attracted increased attention. In this work, a carbon enhanced photocatalyst (BiOBr@PSBM) with dopamine bridge was constructed using porous straw biochar (SBM) as loading carrier for efficient, multitasking water purification engineering, enhancing adjustable adsorption and visible-light degradation. A cellulose-targeted etching strategy was used to construct porous biochar carriers. Benefiting from the synergy of dopamine and carbon enhancement, the electron migration ability of composites enabled the heightened visible-light catalysis activities, and the efficient visible-light degradation (96.5%) for various dye pollutants was achieved. The optimized porous structure, amino-rich surface, and pH control adjustable surface charge properties endowed composites with multitasking ability. They achieved excellent and rapid capture Cr(VI) through static-dynamic adsorption (157.7 mg·g-1, 40 min). The theoretical calculation with DFT framework was used to study the proposed adsorption-degradation mechanism and the degradation pathway of organic polluted molecules. Significantly, multiple recycling and environmental experiments indicated that photocatalysts boasted stable structure and regeneration, supporting their cost-effective and efficient remediation of wastewater containing various polluted species. This work provided a feasible strategy for developing advanced water purification materials by the utilization of low-value solid-waste.