Double‐Shelled Porous g‐C ₃N ₄ Nanotubes Modified with Amorphous Cu‐Doped FeOOH Nanoclusters as 0D/3D Non‐Homogeneous Photo‐Fenton Catalysts for Effective Removal of Organic Dyes

Abstract

Graphite phased carbon nitride (g‐C ₃N ₄) has attracted extensive attention attributed to its non‐toxic nature, remarkable physical–chemical stability, and visible light response properties. Nevertheless, the pristine g‐C ₃N ₄ suffers from the rapid photogenerated carrier recombination and unfavorable specific surface area, which greatly limit its catalytic performance. Herein, 0D/3D Cu‐FeOOH/TCN composites are constructed as photo‐Fenton catalysts by assembling amorphous Cu‐FeOOH clusters on 3D double‐shelled porous tubular g‐C ₃N ₄ (TCN) fabricated through one‐step calcination. Combined density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the synergistic effect between Cu and Fe species could facilitate the adsorption and activation of H ₂O ₂, and the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges effectively. Thus, Cu‐FeOOH/TCN composites acquire a high removal efficiency of 97.8%, the mineralization rate of 85.5% and a first‐order rate constant k = 0.0507 min ⁻¹ for methyl orange (MO) (40 mg L ⁻¹) in photo‐Fenton reaction system, which is nearly 10 times and 21 times higher than those of FeOOH/TCN ( k = 0.0047 min ⁻¹) and TCN ( k = 0.0024 min ⁻¹), respectively, indicating its universal applicability and desirable cyclic stability. Overall, this work furnishes a novel strategy for developing heterogeneous photo‐Fenton catalysts based on g‐C ₃N ₄ nanotubes for practical wastewater treatment.