Novel N,P,S co-doped graphenic SiC layers (g-SiC) in visible-light photodegradation of antibiotics and inactivating the bacteria

In this work, the green synthesis of N, P, S-doped graphenic silicon carbide (g-SiCs) and their potential application as the high performance photocatalysts for the removal of antibiotics (Tetracycline (TCL), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and Amoxicillin (AMX)) and bacteria (S. aureus and E. coli) was investigated under visible light. Synthesized g-SiCs show excellent potential in the removal of organic pollutants compared to commercial SiC. These results are obtained due to the graphenic structure of synthesized g-SiC which increases the electron transfer and reduces the rate of electron-hole recombination. Also, the positive charged Si atoms in the g-SiC structure enhance the adsorption of oxygen molecules to produce the oxygenated radicals which are active species in the degradation of organic pollutants. To improve the photocatalytic activity, nitrogen, phosphor, and sulfur were doped onto the g-SiC structure. The resulting doped catalysts the enhanced photocatalytic activities compared to corresponding non-doped g-SiC. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of doped g-SiC structures could be explained in terms of higher surface area, more defects for better absorption, lower band gap, and more positive charge in Si atoms to the better formation of oxygenated radicals for degradation of antibiotics. This work also introduces these new metal-free materials for photocatalytic inactivating bacteria via the produced active radicals.