Construction of novel amphiphilic [Bmin]3PMo12O40/g-C3N4 heterojunction catalyst with outstanding photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization performance under visible light

•A novel amphiphilic catalyst BPMO/g-C3N4 was prepared using an in situ precipitation method.•BPMO can simultaneously adsorb DBT and H2O2, thus promote the mass transfer at the oil–water interface.•g-C3N4 not only acts as carrier but forms a heterojunction with BPMO and increases the utilization rate of e−.•This work not only uses H2O2 as green oxidant, but also solves the mass transfer of oil–water interface.