Main/side chain asymmetric molecular design enhances charge transfer of two-dimensional conjugated polymer/g-C3N4 heterojunctions for high-efficiency photocatalytic sterilization and degradation

作者：Liu, Xiaojie; Du, Yahui; Zhao, Yong; Huang, Ziwei; Jing, Xin; Wang, Dongxue; Yu, Liangmin; Sun, Mingliang^*

来源：Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2023, 641: 619-630.

DOI：10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.078

• Conjugatedpolymer
• Benzodithiophene
• Thieno[2
• 3-f]benzofuran
• Symmetry-breaking strategy
• Photocatalytic performance

Heterojunctions based on conjugated polymers (PHJs) are of promise as photocatalysts. Here, we fabri-cate the two-dimensional benzodithiophene (BDT) and thieno[2,3-f]benzofuran (TBF) based conjugated polymers/g-C3N4 PHJs creatively using the symmetry-breaking strategy. PD1 and PD3 with the asymmet-ric backbone TBF have better crystallinity. Moreover, PD3 utilizing fluorinated benzotriazole as the elec-tron acceptor unit possesses more compact p -p stacking and higher charge mobility. The conjugated polymer PD5 with asymmetric side chains in the donor unit BDT guarantees more efficient charge trans-fer in the corresponding PD5/g-C3N4 PHJ while maintaining comparable light utilization rate. Consequently, PD5/g-C3N4 shows the champion performance with photocatalytic sterilization rates reaching 99.1% and 97.3% for S. aureus and E. coli. Notably, the reaction rate constant for Rhodamine B degradation of PD5/g-C3N4 is 8 times that of g-C3N4, a record high among conjugated polymers/g-C3N4. This study aims to reveal the structure -property correlation of asymmetric conjugated polymers/g-C3N4 for potential photocatalysis applications.

• 单位
  中国海洋大学