Citation: Qingtao CHEN, Xiangdong SHI, Xianghai RAO, Jiong LI, Xiaoyun QIN, Yiwen GUAN, Binyan ZOU, Guixia LIU, Fenghua CHEN. Employing polydopamine as an electron bridge to construct an S-scheme heterojunction and flexible film for highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2026, 42(4): 747-759. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250286 shu

Employing polydopamine as an electron bridge to construct an S-scheme heterojunction and flexible film for highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants

1.
College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450002, China
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School of New Materials, Luohe Vocational and Technical College, Luohe, Henan 462000, China
3.
School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China

Corresponding author: Xiangdong SHI, shi13461185233@163.com Fenghua CHEN, phenix@zzuli.edu.cn
Received Date: 13 September 2025
Revised Date: 2 February 2026

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To address the issue of low interfacial charge transfer efficiency in heterojunction photocatalysts, an S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst based on polydopamine (PDA) electron bridges was constructed. A powdered S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst, designated as g-C₃N₄@PDA-Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ (CN@PDA-BTO), was fabricated via electrostatic assembly of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ onto PDA-modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄). Photocatalytic degradation experiments, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and electrochemical measurements revealed that PDA serves as an electron transport "bridge", significantly enhancing the interfacial contact and charge separation between g-C₃N₄ and Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂. The optimized sample CN@PDA-BTO-20 achieved degradation rates of 98.2% for methylene blue (MB) within 60 min and 81.1% for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) within 90 min under visible light irradiation, with reaction rate constants markedly higher than those of the single-component and binary composites. Furthermore, to overcome the difficulty of recycling powdered catalysts, the optimal CN@PDA-BTO powder was immobilized within a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel network, resulting in a flexible film designated as CN@PDA-BTO-PVA. The composite film maintained the degradation rates of 77.5% for MB and 71.6% for TCH after five consecutive cycles, demonstrating significantly improved stability and recyclability.
- g-C₃N₄,
- Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂,
- S-scheme heterojunction,
- polydopamine,
- photocatalytic degradation
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