π-π conjugation driving degradation of aromatic compounds with in-situ hydrogen peroxide generation over Zn2In2S5 grown on nitrogen-doped carbon spheres

The water contaminant control with the simultaneous production of clean energy has been considered an ideal and sustainable strategy. Herein, a self-assembled Zn2In2S5 with N-doped hollow carbon spheres (NHCS) was first synthesized via in-situ hydrothermal method to achieve excellent performance for aromatic pollutant removal with high amounts of H2O2 formed. Such a composite harvested phenol degradation efficiency of 97.6% with high H2O2 yield of 1.31 mmol L−1, and bisphenol A (BPA) degradation efficiency of 79.7% with high H2O2 yield of 2.31 mmol L−1. In addition, in-situ produced H2O2 solution of composites achieved high-efficiency bacterial inactivation. Based on the characterization results, NHCS contained abundant aromatic frameworks of π conjugates with CC and N-hybrid rings. Meanwhile, phenol or BPA with rich π bonds was tightly adsorbed to the photocatalyst surface through π-π interactions, which resulted in decreased activation energy with surface-adsorbed phenol * /BPA * . The obtained electrons were quickly transferred to the dispersed dissolved oxygen accompanied by promoting the reduction of O2 into H2O2. This synergetic process was expected to develop novel photocatalysts towards water disinfection achieved the reuse of wastewater.