Multipath elimination of bisphenol A over bifunctional polymeric carbon nitride/biochar hybrids in the presence of persulfate and visible light

Highlights: • Bifunctional carbon nitride/biochar hybrids were prepared to activate PS under VIS. • BC doping empowered PCN with PS activation ability and improved optical properties. • Nonradical/radical mixing mechanisms of BPA degradation were unveiled. • Feasibility of scavengers for reactive oxygen species identification was assessed. • Nonradical-dominated CNBC/PS system showed high RSE compared to VIS/CNBC/PS system. Polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) has become a star material either in photocatalysis or in persulfate (PS) activation. In this work, we synthesized bifunctional biochar (BC)-doped PCN through a facile one-pot thermal treatment process. The PCN/BC hybrid (CNBC) with an optimized proportion could not only activate PS directly, but also possessed improved optical properties. Amorphous BC domains generated from the carbonization of external corncob provided attachments for the in-situ growth of PCN and upgraded its catalytic ability including electron transport property, visible light (VIS) utilization, and oxidation power. Mechanism studies demonstrated that in the CNBC/PS system without VIS, a nonradical electron transfer route was responsible for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA), while in the CNBC/PS/VIS system, radical/nonradical mixing mechanisms including mediated electron transfer, radical oxidation, and hole oxidation were unveiled. Degradation pathways of BPA were deduced including direct oxidation at the aromatic ring, β-scission of isopropyl, and ring cleavage. Most of the intermediates were less toxic than BPA as assessed by the ECOSAR software. The CNBC/PS/VIS system showed satisfactory resistance to environmental interferences except for ${\mathrm{HCO}}_3^{―}$. This work provides a simple but effective strategy for the synthesis of PCN-based bifunctional catalysts and deepens mechanistic insights into hybrid advanced oxidation technologies.