Nanoporous N/O:sp(2)-C films functionalized at nonbonding electrons of a biogenic husk (green chili) with deep UV-visible light absorption-emission for photocatalysis and other applications

The wastewater, which is released at industries, depleting aquatic ecology, and stringent pollution regulations, is a global issue of safety of the green nature. There is an urgent need for developing sustainable materials for pollutant removal from the polluted ground and/or surface water. In this purview, a sp(2) C (a synergistic photocatalyst) offers a special remedy to degrade toxics in the potable water. It is nontoxic and ecological, and readily adsorbs the pollutants in water. Here, we explore synthesis of a biogenic N/O doped C-sp(2) (p-GNO) of a nanoporous husk (green chili) of many electron film-shaped particles. Nonbonding n(1), n(2) -> pi* electron transitions (<= 3.0 eV) at N/O mediate to coherently excite p-GNO to its pi -> pi* excited states (5.0 eV) via an upenergy conversion. That lead to separate the electron-hole 'e(-)-h(+)' pairs so to degrade the pollutants at the redox reactions. The p-GNO exhibits a prominent (002) XRD peak as it consists of (002) sp(2)-C layers of thin films (2-5 nm thickness). Two allotropes coexist-one rho(c) = 2.11 g/cm(3) density and other a higher rho(c) = 2.41 g/cm(3), at atomic arrays twisted at the pores at 2 -> 5 nm sizes (335.2 m(2)/g surface area). Small twins are shown at a 2-5 nm scale at the HRTEM images, with atomic thin interfaces at 3 -> 25 degrees slips. As tested at two pollutants methylene blue (MB) and 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), as much as 92.5% (87.5 % at 2-CP) `degradation removal efficiency' is obtained at a 3.1 x 10(-3) min(-1) rate for MB under the identical conditions. So, p-GNO exhibits better features over many high grade photocatalysts. The mechanism of energy-transfer is described with models at n(1), n(2) <-> pi* energy-conversions at harmonics in deep UV-visible regions. The results are useful to design and develop value aided sp(2)-C and related hybrids for adsorption, photocatalysis, photonics, and other applications.