Preassembly strategy to anchor single atoms on carbon nitride layers achieving versatile Fenton-like catalysis

Abstract

Here we describe a pyrolyzing coordinated polymer (PCP) preassembly strategy with broad generality to anchor various single atoms (SAs, e.g., Cu, Fe, Co and Mn) on carbon nitride (CN) layers and demonstrate their versatilities in H2O2 and PMS Fenton-like catalysis. As a demonstration of the notion, the Cu single atoms anchored on CN (denoted as SA-Cu-CN) was selected as a model material for water purification and mechanism elucidation. The Fenton-like activity of SA-Cu-CN for doxycycline (DOC) degradation can reach one to two orders of magnitude higher than that of the control materials. Reactive species involving ⋅OH and SO4⋅− are suggested to be the critical oxidants for the degradation of organic pollutants. LC-MS analysis and software calculation confirmed that the contaminant was finally transformed to nontoxic byproducts. This discovery is believed to open an avenue for quickly designing versatile heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts and promoting their wide environmental applications.