Resurrection of boron nitride in p-n type-II boron nitride/B-doped-g-C3N4 nanocomposite during solid-state Z-scheme charge transfer path for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Antibiotic contaminants have received much attention due to the increasing serious environmental concerns. In this work, for the first time, we have fabricated a series of significant type-II p-n heterostructure with Z-scheme charge transfer between p-type B-doped g-C3N4 with different proportion of n-type BN through a simple in-situ growth process. PXRD, FTIR, UV-Vis, FESEM, HRTEM and EIS analysis were applied for the detailed characterization of the as-prepared composites to study the crystal phase, structural features, optical and electrical properties. The photocatalytic behaviour of BN/BCN photocatalyst was investigated by the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride under solar light illumination. Experimental results revealed that about 88.1% of TCH was degraded by the BN/BCN composite containing 4 wt% BN in the BN/BCN matrix, in 60 min of solar light irradiation. Reduction in recombination rate of photo generated electron-hole pair's and enhanced visible light absorption ability is credited to the enhanced photocatalytic performance of BN/BCN composite. Trapping experiment for the scavenging agents has confirmed that superoxide (O2¯) and hydroxyl (OH) radicals are the main reactive species during the TCH degradation process. The high stability shown by the BN/BCN composite opens a new path for designing of significant BN based Z-scheme photocatalyst for prevention of environmental issues.