Synergistic enhancement of photocatalytic degradation performance in Cl-g-C3N4/Bi3Al0.06O10 through nitrogen vacancies and S-scheme heterojunctions

The ternary Aurivilius compound Bi_xAl_yO_z was prepared via a solvothermal technique, with the specific composition determined to be Bi₃Al_0.06O₁₀ using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. A Cl-g-C₃N₄/Bi₃Al_0.06O₁₀ heterojunction was constructed using the solvothermal coprecipitation method. Notably, the introduction of Cl-g-C₃N₄ with Bi₃Al_0.06O₁₀ significantly enhanced the decolorization efficiency of both Rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB). Specifically, the Cl-g-C₃N₄/Bi₃Al_0.06O₁₀ composite with a mass ratio of 1:4 achieved a removal rate of 96.81 % for RhB within 20 min and 96.70 % for MB within 180 min. This is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of N vacancies and the formation of S-scheme heterojunction in Cl-g-C₃N₄/Bi₃Al_0.06O₁₀. These features facilitate the effective separation of photogenerated electrons and holes while expanding the light absorption range. This study not only presents a novel method for synthesizing photocatalysts with N vacancies but also offers a new approach for treating dye-contaminated wastewater.