Electron-beam induced durable immobilization of g-C 3 N 4 onto cotton fabric for visible-light photocatalytic purification

The development of immobilized photocatalysts on flexible materials is an attractive method for addressing catalyst recovery and agglomeration problems in water purification. Herein, a durable immobilization strategy was developed to fabricate photocatalytic cotton fabrics with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) by cross-linking solid N , N ′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) via electron beam (EB) irradiation. The g-C 3 N 4 was anchored onto the cotton by MBA through cross-linked network, code as g-C 3 N 4 -Cot. The g-C 3 N 4 -Cot exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation activity for ofloxacin (OFX) after 60 accelerated laundering cycles. At the same time, the coated g-C 3 N 4 and cross-linked MBA could protect the surface of cotton cellulose from the destruction of radicals. Even after 60 min of ultrasonic treatment, the mass fraction of g-C 3 N 4 leached from g-C 3 N 4 -Cot-1 was only 5 wt%. The immobilized g-C 3 N 4 photocatalytic coating can be also applicable for the degradation of other typical organic contaminants. Furthermore, the · O 2 − species played critical role during the degradation process. Hence, EB cross-linking provides an alternative method for constructing efficient and stable photocatalytic materials, which have great potential for application in wastewater purification. Graphical abstract